Conan Kull of Atlantis

46 CHAPTER 3 for ten thousand years. The heights of skill, prowess, and artistry such traditions could reach are unimaginable to the lesser peoples who came after, including those of the Hyborian Age of Conan, many millennia later. It is said this state lasted for tens of thousands of years, though in such spans of time most records will be unreliable at best. Perhaps this statement is true, and the right of rulership behind all seven thrones is ancient beyond imagining. Perhaps this is simply what the people are told, but add the weight of millennia to the power of blade and gold to hold power in place. “What always was, must always be” is an adage of this era where, before the monolithic face of tradition and time, it must seem true change is all but impossible. It took the rise of a brash and uncouth outsider to suggest to any that this might not be inexorably so. THE COMING OF KING KULL King Borna of Valusia ruled his kingdom as hundreds had before him: with a hard but unsteady hand. As Kull fought in the arena, then served as a commander in Borna’s army, conspiring nobles sought to leverage the king’s weaknesses. They swayed Kull to lead an army to the steps of Borna’s castle, seizing the throne by defeating his liberator in single combat. Kull’s supporters among the nobles had thought a barbarian would be easy to cow to their will, ensuring a typical rule much like any other... only with them ruling the ruler. However, Kull proved anything but typical. His barbarian ways and iconoclastic questioning of tradition combined iron resolution with a lust for adventure and honor long missing from the halls of Valusia or any of the Seven Kingdoms. When he slew King Borna and ascended to the throne, rival nations flocked to pick off border territories and foment revolution within the City of Wonders, believing no mere barbarian could manage the trials and demands of ruling a civilized nation. It took Kull, with the help of allies won during his time in the military, a mere six months to bend all Valusia to his will. Some say Kull’s presence on the throne of Valusia became a catalyst for a new age of growth and splendor across the Thurian continent. Many aristocrats and royals resented his uncouth presence in their midst, but the Atlantean also cut an inspiring figure. More than one historian theorizes this inspiration brought new vitality to the Seven Empires and beyond, spurring the indolent masses into new explorations of art, technology, and culture that would be felt all the way to the Cataclysm, which once again changed all things.

Events 47 THE TRIUNE CONFEDERATION Although the Seven Empires existed in a degree of balance, the alliance between Thule, Commoria, and Kamelia created a bloc that put those three nations at the economic and political forefront of their time. None can say for certain when the Confederation truly began. In fact, it is likely the first pacts and alliances were intentionally obscured so the consolidation of power could become public knowledge as a fait accompli and not quashed in its infancy. When Kull ascended to the throne of their rival Valusia, the leaders of the Confederation recognized the threat his newly invigorated nation posed. They marshalled the strength of their nations against him, both overtly in warfare and economic conflict, and covertly in the form of funding and organizing an assassination attempt. They backed a coup intended to put Borna’s cousin Gormlah on the throne. These efforts failed, and indeed the cost of opposing Kull took its toll on all three nations. By the end of Kull’s lifetime, he had broken the Triune Confederation and scattered its most important supporters. Thule, Commoria, and Kamelia were reduced to being lesser states of their time, not ruled over by Valusia but deeply within the shadow of her power and wealth. A MAZE OF ILLUSIONS AND MISTAKES The above is not to say Kull had an easy time of it on his throne. Throughout his reign, he was beset on all sides by representatives of the three great powers of the Thurian Age. Although he defeated each in its turn, and often again as they reared their heads anew, this period was in its way as bloody as those before in both Kull’s personal life and the history of the Seven Empires themselves. One of the great powers was the rival nations of the Seven Empires. The Triune Confederacy represented one example of this great and ancient struggle, but other nations also schemed against the barbarian. Countless wars and battles, both of wit and of brawn, were fought in endless attempts to unseat Kull and restore the older order to the Thurian continent. The second great power was the aristocracy of Valusia itself. Many among those in the upper echelons of power resented their upstart usurper, and still others saw Kull as a potentially weak rival to be deposed and replaced. Outright wars were not the hallmark of this struggle, but rather a series of assassination attempts, thwarted coups, and traps even more bizarre, all meant to kill or otherwise eliminate Kull. The deaths from these attempts fundamentally altered the structure of the Valusian upper class as rival after rival met a grisly end. Finally, dark and secret powers plagued Kull throughout his time on the throne. The serpent-people (page 84) had ruled from the shadows through agents and thralls for many thousands of years. The light and vigor Kull brought to his palace threatened their position, and they made numerous attempts to bring him down. Similarly, ancient wizards and other dark powers came to fear Kull’s blade, and attempted oblique and eldritch methods of ending his reign. As with the others, doom came to all once the battle was engaged. AGES BEFORE, AND AGES YET TO COME… The legends of Kull provide a vivid glimpse into the Thurian Age but cover only a scant few years in a tapestry of 150 millennia. Prior to Kull’s coming to Valusia, and in the 80,000 years between his death and the Cataclysm, there is immense room for adventure. Cultures spread, changed, and evaporated. Kingdoms rose and fell. Peoples grew and waned. Heroes grew from childhood, lived their stories, and were remembered in story and song, then forgotten in their turn. Kull himself often mentioned the weight of these unfathomable years, lamenting how purposeless even a single lifetime was in the great procession of time before and after. In your games, however, these great gulfs of unrecorded history are a boon. Anything is possible in such vast spaces. WHEN WAS THE THURIAN AGE? Robert E. Howard was frustratingly unforthcoming with details about the Thurian Age but left just enough notes to fix its place in the long history of the world. The age ended with the Cataclysm, the “time the oceans drank Atlantis”. This world-shattering event changed the face of the earth at political, societal, ecological, and even geographical levels and took place (according to Howard’s reckoning) at approximately 20,000 BCE. Furthermore, “The Isle of Eons” provides additional information about the events leading up to that epoch. The beginning of the Thurian Age is made less clear, but a mention in Howards “Kings of the Night” suggests Kull lived his life 100,000 years before the Roman Empire. If accurate and not hyperbole, this means that 80,000 years passed between his riding into Valusia and the Cataclysm that ended the era. By that time, the Seven Kingdoms had been established firmly enough that age upon age had passed largely without change. It’s likely at least another 80,000 years had passed prior to Kull’s birth and life. Conan is thought to have swung his sword no later than 10,000 BCE, meaning that his most famous ancestor’s final exploit took place some 70,000 years before the famous Cimmerian’s birth.

CHAPTER 4 MYTH AND MAGIC “We worshipped Valka and Hotah, Honen and Golgor. Many virgins, many strong youths, died on their altars and the smoke of the shrines blotted out the sun. Then the sea rose and shook himself. He thundered from his abyss and the thrones of the world fell before him! New lands rose from the deep and Atlantis and Mu were swallowed up by the gulf. The green sea roared through the fanes and the castles, and the sea-weed encrusted the golden spires and the topaz towers.” — The Last Atlantean, “The Moon of Skulls” THE GODS OF THE THURIAN AGE The Thurian Age was no stranger to gods; just as the Hyborian Age gave birth to its deities, so too did that epoch which preceded the cataclysm. Some were creatures of vast power, others plucked from the demesne of man’s desperate imaginings. Some were neither, but strange agglomerations of myth and truth and memory. All, however, irrespective of their veracity, had blood spilled in their name. Such is the nature of gods. VALKA The god of gods, Valka is one of the few deities whose worship extends beyond the boundaries of culture and nation. While an Atlantean barbarian and a Pictish warrior might invoke his name prior to battle, so too will a Valusian courtier whisper his name before trying to secure a patron in the cut-and-thrust world of courtly politics. So varied are Valka’s worshippers that there is no real agreement on how the god appears, how he is to be addressed and how to worship him. Valusia maintains shrines to Valka, with reverent rites and solemn ritual. Atlanteans carve rough wooden fetishes which bear his symbols: the lightning bolt and the eagle’s wing. It is said that Valka created the world and everything that roams upon its face, with mankind as his favored children. All the different peoples of the earth were shaped by Valka from the raw clay of creation and each praise his name in their different ways. And who does Valka prefer, amongst the peoples of the earth? Whose rites and rituals are most pleasing to him? Valka remains silent, but the tribes of the world have spilt more blood over such questions than anything else. HONEN AND HOTATH The divine twins. The warrior brothers. The spear and the sword. Honen and Hotath are the gods of the soldier and the killer, of the men and women whose commitment to the blade supersedes all petty notions of civilization and diplomacy. Honen and Hotath are the chosen gods of the Valusian army, and are always invoked prior to the conquest of new lands. It is for this reason that the twins have committed followers in amongst the fierce barbarian peoples — the Picts and the Atlanteans — for Valusian soldiers, grateful for victory (or survival) erected small shrines in the lands they sought to conquer and those they

50 CHAPTER 4 fought against recognized their likeness in the unyielding aspects of the warrior brothers, their weapons bared and their faces suffused with battle lust. There is little in the way of prescribed worship for the divine twins — it is doubtful they understand the finer points of religious devotion. They do understand the thrill of battle and the scent of blood, however, and all those who thirst for the press of melee and the song of the sword count the brothers as their allies. HELGOR AND HELFARA Pagan gods whose true names have long been forgotten and whose invocation, by half-remembered epithets, are enough to induce shivers of atavistic memory in those who pride themselves on the veneer of civilization, Helgor and Helfara are worshipped now only by a few. Their names are composites, titles bestowed upon them in the long ago of the world. Hel is a title, meaning “lord”. For Helgor, the title translates as “Lord of Carrion”; for Helfara, “Lord of the Narrow Way”. In the ancient lands of Atlantis, they were praised with blood and with the offer of human flesh. Thousands went to the pyres, their terrified screams a potent sacrifice to the barbaric deities, whose statues and fetishes adorned the temples. There were others, beyond Helgor and Helfara, but these have now been consigned to the dust of the ages entirely — their names long since neglected. It is a strange fate that these two should be recalled, even if only fleetingly, from the dark abysses of time THE BLACK GODS Things move and breed and thrash and think out there, out there in the darkness. The darkness between the worlds, between the spheres. They lurch and fling themselves against the membrane which separates realm from realm, place from place. And they call, call out to any who would listen - a maddening siren song. And there are some who respond. Some who hear the eldritch howling and seek to answer it. These men and women keep their worship hidden, for the most part, praising their hideous gods in furtive rituals, designed to weaken the barriers separating them from this world. The Black Gods, the Black Shadow, the Great Darkness, the Final Eclipse... all these names are esoteric references to those things which wait and raven in the dark spaces. Sometimes, those who work sorcery in service of these entities from beyond can ascend the echelons of society, becoming viziers and guides to the mighty. When such happens, they must be rooted out and cut down, for, when given dominion over the lives of others, the Black Gods are only ever moments from being called up and their song waxes every stronger... THE SERPENT ONES The ophidian creatures that once called the surface of the earth their home and still, ever since the rise of man, seek to reclaim it, worshipped many strange and ugly gods, committing foul acts upon the creatures of the world in their service. Since the fall of their servants, so too have the Serpent Ones been cast aside, in favor of those deities whose faces are turned toward man. But, in the crevices of the world, the serpent men still reside, and their gods live with them. In ages to come, all but one of these gods will have been forgotten, and he too will have been given an unfamiliar name, but the truth of the matter cannot be ignored. The great snakes, the fathers of the serpent people wait to reclaim the earth, to drape their mottled coils over the domain of mankind. Vicious, cruel and eternal, they sleep — waiting to slough this skin and be reborn. But their worship continues and those who press the fight against the ophidians too ferociously may find they wake something even worse. THE APE LORDS The terrifying, bestial gods of Lemuria adorn the strange cities of those forsaken islands, their taloned hands seeming to stretch down from vast bas-reliefs which decorate the sides of palaces, their leering faces watching the citizens as they carry out their lives in constant apprehension. The kings and priests of Lemuria have ever been at war with each other, each vying for the supreme control of the nation and its people, each trying to prove themselves the truest and most faithful devotees of the sinister, primordial gods their ancestors called up out of the murky swamps and shadowed jungles. The Ape Lords made Lemuria a great power, but the price they demanded was terrible, a price that is still paid by the people of the fragmented nation as they are dragged to the altar, to the smoking censer, to the vast open maw of the Ape statue and consigned to the flames therein. To those who know the rites of the Ape, there are means of drawing great magical potency from such heinous acts, but few dare attempt such things. There are some, however, who plumb any depth in pursuit of their ambitions. RAAMA Who, or what, Raama was is impossible now to divine. Even the wisest, most venerable scholars hesitate to ajudge, one way or another: was Raama a god made manifest? A powerful sorcerer, his story inflated and distended by centuries and the imaginations of his chroniclers? Or was he merely a fever-dream combination of a hundred or more different, men and women — lesser in power, perhaps, than mythic Raama, but not lesser in herosim. None can say. All that is known is recorded in a few stories, which, while scant in detail are known to all who tread the earth in the age of Kull.

Myth and Magic 51 Many have sought proof of Raama’s existence, and a few have found it. But they have found something altogether more horrifying waiting for them there, as well. GOLGOR Atlantis has worshipped many gods in its ancient past and will worship many in the years to come. Of all these dozens of deities, the darkest and most obscene is Golgor. To Golgor were hundreds of virgins sacrificed, to Golgor were bloody tributes hoisted aloft, to Golgor were the debauches promised and the altars stacked. In shape, Golgor resembled a vast and hideous toad. His most devoted worshippers claimed that, sometimes, Golgor would visit their dreams and, even, visit them in truth — in sacred groves, in the wilderness, if they danced and sang and disported themselves around an onyx monolith. There are those who believe that Golgor is the same, squat, toad thing which, in later ages of the earth will be called Tsathoggua, or Golgoroth. Others that some psychic sliver of that obscene, eldritch abomination was shed by the strange god of the outer dark and settled in Atlantis, only ending its cruelty when the island was swallowed. And others claim only that Golgor was the Atlanteans finally giving into their worst and most bestial urges, that there was no ancient and hideous being to appease, only the grimmest appetites of mankind, whetted by the decadence of civilization. THE NATURE OF REALITY In the Thurian Age, the myriad other planes of existence are closer and more accessible than in later epochs. Although some wizards perform the same sorcerous spells and rituals that magicians from younger eras still use, other options are possible. A few scholars in this era have learned the fundamental truths that underlie all magic, and in fact all of reality. According to these sages, a different, more fundamental reality secretly lies beneath the world that most people perceive. Behind every phenomenon, like movement or silence, there is some essential reality, a pure essence of movement or of silence, an embodiment of these principles that exists wholly outside the actual manifestation. Darkness, thus, is not merely the absence of light or its obscuration but has its own principle of Darkness that exists wherever darkness is found, manifesting itself rather than being produced. The ancient one called Raama is said to have understood and even mastered this deeper realm of understanding. He learned that this realm contains reified concepts that are reflected in impure form in the everyday reality of the senses. Rather than burning strange powders and sacrificing animals or humans, Raama used natural laws, backed by his will to reshape the world in seemingly supernatural ways. Raama called his methods the First Principles and the Elements and described how they acted below the world of the senses. While called sorcery or even necromancy by the unenlightened masses, this type of magical practice had more in common with science and philosophy than with other forms of sorcery. However even in the Thurian Age, most magic is far less esoteric. As is true in later eras, much that ordinary people call sorcery consists of clever deceptions anyone can learn. Ventriloquism is one of the most common deceits used by Lemurian charlatans who claim magical powers. In addition, most true sorcery in this era is like later magics, requiring patrons and pacts with demons or cruel gods. However, these antique sorcerers know one technique that was later lost. A sorcerer who is dying and calls upon his fell patrons to aid him in one final spell gains a single use of either the Curse or the Everlasting Sorcery talent (Conan corebook, page 168), even if the sorcerer does not otherwise possess it. This final spell also automatically gains 2 additional Momentum. THE SILENCE The most famous of the reified concepts described by Raama and other Thurian Age philosophers is the Silence, the terrible, mind-shattering essential nature of silence. Called by some a philosophical demon, it is the embodied concept of silence itself, horrifically aware and utterly antithetical to sound, and thus to life, which by its nature makes sound. It desires a still and lifeless cosmos. To protect humanity, Raama bound the Silence into a warded castle known as the Skull of Silence, where it still waits for the brave or the deeply foolish to release it. “Life is Power, Life is Electricity. You and I are atoms of power, cogs in the wheels of the Universal system. Life is not predestined, that is, the trivial affairs of our lives are not, but we have certain paths to follow and we cannot escape them . . . we are sparks of stardust, atoms of unknown power, powerless in ourselves but making up the whole of some great power that uses us as ruthlessly as fire uses fuel.” — Letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, February 1928

52 CHAPTER 4 THE FORBIDDEN LAKE Another consequence of the fact that the boundaries between realms are less firm is that some magical realms can be entered physically, with no requirement for magic or special preparations to visit them. For example, while Valusia’s Forbidden Lake is home to numerous unnatural monsters, any who can brave their way past these horrors can enter a realm that at first seems to be a cavern, but is in reality an entirely separate plane of existence filled with light that is eerily black, but which also provides unnatural illumination. Inhuman creatures that wield magic as easily as humans wield farming implements inhabit this realm. TOTEMS AND TAMBUS The rough traditions of savage peoples are still strong in many parts of the Thurian Continent, especially among the Picts and Atlanteans. A character hailing from either culture must roll once for their totem, which reflects the animalistic spirit closest to their tribe and/or personal nature. Each totem grants a small measure of power associated with the animal, and a forbidden activity, called a tambu (also known as a taboo). THE FIRST PRINCIPLES This type of ‘magic’ died with Raama, who feared that anyone who learned from him, rather than discovering these truths for themselves would be less wise in their use and might attempt to enslave or destroy the world through carelessness, ignorance, or malice. However, a sorcerer could rediscover these truths and the methods associated with them. Sorcery performed in this fashion can cast the same spells, but its practice is very different. There are no rituals, sacrifices, circles drawn in unclean blood, demonic patrons, or inhuman chants. Instead, the sorcerer sits or stands serenely and contemplates reality, until reality does the sorcerer’s bidding. Also, instead of requiring the Patron talent (CONAN corebook, page 84) to be able to purchase the Sorcerer Talent, Sorcerers of this rare tradition must instead purchase the Elements talent (see below), because these sorcerers learn their craft via their own wisdom and understanding, not another’s tutelage. Practitioners of this form of sorcery favor spells like Astral Wandering, Atavistic Voyage, Commune With the Wild, Fury of the Elements, Haunt the Mind, and Placate the Dead, as well as Artifice of Yag, Opening the Eyes of Kuth, and Visions of Exalted Wisdom (these latter from The Book of Skelos). Elements PREREQUISITES: Sorcery Expertise 1, Lore Expertise 1 You have opened your mind to a deeper understanding of the world and may now purchase the Sorcerer talent and can begin to learn spells. Sorcery performed in this manner is never a test for Consequences (CONAN corebook, pages 170–171), and sorcerers with this talent can never learn the Barter Your Soul, Pact, or Patron sorcery talents. Sorcerers with this talent require a minimum of an entire 15-minute-long scene to cast any spell and must learn all their spells by trial and error (The Book of Skelos, page 112). In addition, First Principles sorcerers cannot use offerings or special tools to enhance their workings but can use and create circles of power (The Book of Skelos, page 114). ATLANTEAN BEAST GODS Atlantis is a wild land filled with ancient creatures. In addition to natural animals, it is also home to strange and powerful beast gods that contain and embody the primal essence of various animals in much the same way that the Silence is the primal essence of ordinary silence. Each of these beast gods is a more powerful version of the related ordinary animal, and they all require special magics or almost inhuman hunting prowess to slay. The known beast gods include: Na-go-sa-na, the tawny one, the Fear That Walks By Night; Sa-go-na, the sabretooth; Ga-so-go, the mammoth Hill that Walks; Go-la-ha, the Beast That Carries A Horn On Its Nose; A-go-nun, the Red One, a cone-horned monster of another age; E-hag-don, the ancient dinosaur from myth; and the small but deadly Crawling Ones, bearers of the Burning Death.

Myth and Magic 53 Characters from other peoples may also roll for a totem and tambu, using a d20 on the Totems and Tambus table, following. Civilized lands have not entirely forgotten the wilderness lurking just outside their city walls and just beyond the trappings of urbanity. TOTEM POWERS A totem power reflects a deep, inner and spiritual connection between the nature of the totem animal and the human to whom it is tied. Player characters may access them at their discretion. Often when a totem power is in play, the character using it takes on the movements, sounds, and even seems to mimic aspects of their totem animal. Aquatic Ambush At home in the water, you gain +1 Momentum when making a Movement test in the water, and roll +1d20 on Stealth checks when in water waist-deep or deeper. Best in Life The joy of the otters lives within you, always easy to access. Gain +1d20 when rolling to resist the effects of hunger, despair, or deprivation. Blood Frenzy You go mad with violence when you have blooded an enemy. If you spend Momentum to gain extra damage against an already wounded opponent, gain +1 additional damage per Momentum spent, up to a maximum of 3 additional . Fierceness Your proud ferocity keeps your heart brave when others quail. Gain 1 extra Resolve Soak. TOTEMS AND TAMBUS Roll Totem Animal Totem Power Tambu 1–2 Tiger Fierceness Never fight a tiger but in self-defense. 3–4 Wildcat Land on Your Feet Never fail to repay a host with a small token. 5–6 Horse Longstriding Never mistreat a horse. 7–8 Raven Keen Mind Always give ravens a coin or small gem when you meet. 9–10 Wolf Pack Law Never betray your pack. 11–12 Otter Best in Life Do not eat shellfish. Save them for the otters. 13–14 Eagle Keen Eye Never imprison or enslave a living being. 15–16 Alligator Aquatic Ambush Never fight an alligator, but do not suffer a crocodile to live. 17–18 Shark Blood Frenzy If you eat within sight of the sea, leave the guts for the sharks. 19–20 Whale Mighty Diver Drink only water.

54 CHAPTER 4 Keen Eye Like an eagle, your eyes miss little. Roll an additional +1d20 on Senses tests involving sight, up to the normal maximum. Keen Mind The trickster’s stories were your birthright, and you remember them well. Upon making a successful test to catch a liar or trick, gain +1 Momentum. Land on Your Feet Catlike, you fall with grace and ease. Make an Average (D1) Acrobatics test when falling. Reduce the damage suffered by that fall by 1 per point of Momentum earned (minimum 1 per ). You can also spend 1 additional Momentum to immediately land on, or roll to, your feet as a Free Action. Longstriding Long leagues of travel mean but little to you. Traveling alone, you move at half again your normal speed. Traveling with companions, you roll an additional +1d20 for any test to resist Fatigue associated with long marches. Mighty Diver You dive and swim like your cetacean brothers, reducing the Difficulty of Movement tests while swimming or for any test to hold your breath by one step, to a minimum of Average (D1). Pack Law Wolves fight best with a friend. Whenever you are beside a fighting companion, you gain 1 extra Resolve soak. TAMBUS Tambus have emotional, cultural, and magical impact, so deeply ingrained in the weave of the Thurian world. Should a character violate their tambu, the gamemaster should inflict a suitable consequence for this grave violation of their basic tenets. The default result of tambu violation is the immediate loss of one of the violator’s Fortune points. If they have none, the gamemaster instead gains 3 Doom in its place. At the beginning of the next session the violator receives one fewer Fortune points and their maximum is reduced by one until restitution or purification in some fashion has been made. In addition, other immediate or long-reaching impacts could result in addition, such as the transgressing player character suffering socially based on their reputation as a tambu-breaker. “The real gods are dark and bloody!” — Guron, “The Altar and the Scorpion” ATLANTEAN CULTURE HEROES Outside of the island of Atlantis, little is known of its history, as the land has no written language, and the people are resolutely unfriendly to outsiders. Kull himself, the most famous native of Atlantis, was barely an example of its people, being from a vanished tribe and adopted by another. The following are some of the more notable of those still remembered. Gonra of the Sword The saga of Gonra of the Sword ends with his last stand defending a temple to the Scorpion God in a city whose name is lost to time. Though he dies in the attempt, he is said to have slain over one hundred barbarian warriors before his fall. Those doomed to die remember him when summoning the courage to die well. Kambra A warrior claimed as ancestor by a score of families and twice as many tribes, Kamra was said to be so formidable lions would speak to him as an equal. He is called upon less by soldiers and more by independent fighters like mercenaries, pirates, and tribal folk. Vramma, Jaggra-noga, Kamma, and Kulthas These names and a hundred others refer to heroes who did not live within the memories of those still walking but were known to those the living still remember. Almost every city, tribe, and family has one or two such revered ancestors. Games set earlier than Kull’s life in the Thurian Age might feature one or more such persons. Those set between the Cataclysm and Kull’s death might number Kull and Borna themselves among these heroes. Zukor Na Known for her courage and beauty, and her spite, Zukor Na is the center of dozens of comedic tales of trickery, deceit, daring, and revenge. Some call on her as a spirit guide, while others use her name only as a curse or aspersion.

Myth and Magic 55 CULTS AND SECTS Many are the secret societies and cults operating in the lands adjacent to the Western Sea, or upon its waters. Described here are four cults of sorcerous practitioners and their secrets. THE BLACK SHADOW The island chain of Lemuria is a mystery to those who inhabit the interior of the Thurian continent, for they live far from the wild coastline that marks the eastern shores of the Great Western Sea, where Lemurian pirates harry coastal waters in search of red plunder. For those who eke out a living on the windswept strand, or the merchants who hazard maritime trade routes, the Lemurians are no mystery but instead a very real and terrible threat. Plying the emerald waves in their swift galleys, the Lemurian pirates sail in packs and hunt the briny depths like sea wolves, choosing as their quarry any ship they encounter. Occasionally, too, when prey is scarce upon the open waters, the Lemurians pilot their galleys along the shoreline to harass the coastal villages that dot the harsh seaboard, bringing fire, death, and mayhem in a grim exchange for slaves, resources, and wealth. Those unfortunates who have been captured in raids and enslaved aboard Lemurian pirate ships only to escape years later, broken in body, mind, and soul recount in terrified whispers the evil religious rituals the Lemurians practiced. While the Lemurians are known to worship many deities, it is the dread of all captives to find oneself in chains aboard a ship crewed by adherents of the ancient Cult of The Black Shadow. For eons past counting, the Cult of the Black Shadow held sway over the dark places of Lemuria. Known by various names such as the Unnamable One, the Unknown God, the Strange God, the-God-which-is-unknown, and many other appellations, it is said that the Unnamable One was birthed on a dead and frozen planet beneath the black glare of a malevolent dark star. And from that utterly black void from which no light nor life can exist rose the raw hunger of need that found expression in the hideous sacraments of its followers. Alien and utterly malevolent, only the high priests of the Cult of The Black Shadow know whence it came to Earth and for what purpose. Despite its subversive and secretive nature, the Cult of the Black Shadow is widespread and various worship sites are scattered across all the Seven Empires — including the highlands of Valusia, where the dread Temple of Everlasting Darkness seeks to challenge the dying might of Valka. Lemurian worshippers of the hungry entity insist that no likeness of their god be made, and yet it has been symbolized in effigies in Valusia and other places. It is here that the physical manifestation of The Black Shadow is preserved and protected. Upon a bloodstained ebon altar, an effigy depicting a hideously black and obscenely formless shadow gazes down with brooding lust upon writhing human sacrifices. The core belief of its adherents is found in the discovery and acceptance of the ‘ultimate truth’ which demands that the deity’s terrible appetite be satiated through the sacrifice of human blood. The hunger of emptiness that drives the Black Shadow is echoed in the grisly rites to which its adherents are compelled to worship. THE GREAT SCORPION When one discusses the divine guardians and idols that have been all but lost to antiquity, one should not forget the divinity known as the Great Scorpion. Birthed near the end of the Age of the Old Race, at the onset of the pre-Cataclysmic age, the cult of the Great Scorpion recalls a time when nameless sages of antiquity called Valusia young and the hills of Atlantis and Mu were mere isles amidst limitless green seas. An ancient enemy of the Old Serpent and openly hostile to all the foul and blasphemous miracles to which its worshippers were fervently employed, the Great Scorpion was said to have once rivaled, though was hardly able to displace, his scaly ophidian nemesis. The Great Scorpion was once one of the most compelling gods of the pre-Cataclysmic age owing to the very active role he played in the spiritual lives of his most ardent adherents. Called also the God of the Crawling Darkness, the Great Scorpion was revered by his celebrants for the regard he displayed in answering the urgent prayers of his faithful as well as for his sense of justice, honor, and vengeance granted in the form of minor miracles to his most devoted priests and clerics. To further explain the enduring and reverential devotion displayed by followers of the Great Scorpion, one need look no further than the physical and spiritual connection that the bringer of the crawling darkness has with the scorpioid denizens of the arid and desolate tracts of the world. Those priests and zealots that honor that connection by carefully sweeping the ground upon which they walk and sparing the scorpionida they come upon in the scorched wilderness can earn additional blessings that result in acquiring a level of immunity to the venomous secretions of all crawling insects and certain venom injecting snakes. “You shall know the brain-shattering truth of that Unnamable One, to whose reality no earthly likeness may be given, but whose symbol is — The Black Shadow!” — “The Altar and the Scorpion”

56 CHAPTER 4 However, as the centuries drifted ponderously toward the destruction that would one day wipe away the ancient splendor of the pre-Cataclysmic age so too would the faith and popularity once imbued in the Great Scorpion begin to wane against the indefatigable advance of time. Because of this degeneration of popular worship, and in the face of an ever-increasing migration of humanity away from the parched expanses of the world that saw the human race seek the high walled comfort and security of civilization’s great cities, little is known of the ritual devotions that comprised the Great Scorpion’s worship at the height of his power. Still, in the decades before Kull would become king of Valusia, ancient clay tablets were discovered and translated by modern Valusian scholars that described in minor detail the rites and services that comprised the devotions bestowed upon this enigmatic deity. It is from this frustratingly deficient source that modern worshippers developed the basic doctrine of their spiritual devotions. The Great Scorpion was a god in decline during Kull’s rein as king of Valusia. Where once the temples of the Great Scorpion lay scattered across the central plains and desert villages of the world like scintillant jewels that brighten the night sky, now those same temples lay mostly forgotten and neglected, sad reminders of the Great Scorpion’s former significance. But in a remote mountain city of Valusia there survives one of the few active shrines to this nearly forgotten deity. Infrequent invocations to the Great Scorpion are still carried out within the crumbling splendor of an ageless shrine whose ceilings of lapis lazuli, gleaming white marble walls, and polished marble floors surround a glimmering golden altar upon which sits a cunningly crafted crystal image of a scorpion. Here his worshippers, mostly women and adolescents of the minor noble houses whose devotion to this nearly forgotten deity borders on fanaticism, dedicate bloodless sacrifices to the Great Scorpion while reading from dubious copies of the apocryphal texts found so long ago. THE CULT OF KE-NAHAA A gigantic marble statue of the ape-god Xultha towers over a bloodstained altar of lapis lazuli, polished smooth as if by long centuries of use. The image radiates of the prehistoric, when stone age folk dreamed monstrously and shaped monstrous gods. The legs are knobbed and bowed supporting a thick torso of muscle and black, matted hair, and the face a perfect study of malevolent will directing its hate filled gaze toward terrified worshippers. From one great outstretched hand dangles a clutch of humanlike body parts – heads, arms, legs – all curiously suggestive of some repulsive natural deformity. Thick granite columns, cracked with age and covered with extraordinary images of pain, mutilation, and death flanked the altar on either side. Along the top of the square cut stone altar runs a wide channel, stained a dark brown, that empties into a stone bowl at the foot of the thick slab. There are dark etchings strongly suggestive of blood on the walls, floor, and columns where the spattered gore of some poor wretch was spilled to appease the great beast, the First God. Countless centuries ago, when the realms of earth were wild with youth and the Elder Race still revered Poseidon, there arose the worship of a dark and bloody god, called Xultha the Ape God, whose true name was Ke-nahaa. In the dim period of earth’s infancy, the earliest human tribes, those who had come before even the Elder Tribes had first ridden out of the Wastelands to vie for supremacy over the Thurian continent, knew this deity as the First God. The origins of the Cult of Ke-nahaa were revealed within the crumbling age-stained pages of “Nayah’s Testimony,” a collection of fragments written by King Nyulah’s lord of magic, Nayah of the Shining City. Nyulah’s empire had already faded to dust and ruin before Valusian sages would discover in a long-forgotten shrine the fragments within the blasphemous iron-bound books collected by the dread wizard Shuma Gorath, upon the leafy summit of Lemuria’s highest mountain. These fragments (page 59) tell a tale of a bloodthirsty religion fallen into the dust of obscurity. The texts assert that the first god worshipped by humanity was the grim and unknowable Ke-nahaa. For millennia the children of the Elder Race offered their sacrifices at the altar of the Ape-God. But just as the sands of time pass from now to tomorrow so too did the remnants of the Elder Race eventually give way to the descendants of Younger Earth and with this new civilization came new gods. One of the new gods was called Poseidon, and the kings of ancient Mu long venerated him as their chief deity but tolerated the worship of other lesser divinities. Perhaps it was this indulgence that allowed the Cult of Ke-nahaa to gain a strong following and assert itself as rival religion. However, the bestial aspects attendant in the worship of the Ape-God proved too ghastly for the kings who ruled the Twenty Cities of Mu, and it was they who outlawed the worship of Ke-nahaa. Forbidden to even acknowledge their deity publicly, acolytes of the Ape-God began to meet in secret underground caverns beneath the mountains of Lemuria. It was not long before the seeds of rebellion were sown amongst the populace and the storms of revolt, provoked by Nayah the high priest of Ke-nahaa, laid siege to the kings of Mu. In a violent purge, Nayah urged the mountain people of Mu to cast off the rule of the city kings and reject the teachings of “God of the crawling darkness, grant me aid!” — “The Altar and the Scorpion

Myth and Magic 57 the Trident-wielder. They destroyed the icons of Poseidon, the false god of Karath, and raised in their place the images of Ke-nahaa. Nyulah the usurper seized the jade throne of Mu and with the aid of the mountain people and Nayah and his acolytes of Ke-nahaa he was able to hold it. High amongst the crags of Valla, the great Lemurian mountain known as the “star-lifter,” Nayah built a city of learning called Na-hor. He reared, too, a great pyramid dedicated to the worship of Moon-Woman and academies of esoteric learning dedicated to unlocking the mystic lore and knowledge of bygone ages. Nayah grew in knowledge and influence. The accumulated wisdom and knowledge of the past flowed through him and the material elements of earth, water, wind, and fire gave up their secrets and became his to command. He directed that power toward baleful ends and sought always to glorify the Ape-God Ke-nahaa through his vile exploits. He dispatched missionaries of Ke-nahaa to erect temples across the globe and to tear down the fanes of ‘lesser’ gods wherever they may be found. The cult of Ke-nahaa continues to grow and the shrines to the Ape-God have appeared in many lands, except in Valusia. THE DISCIPLES OF THE DOOR Locked away within the subterranean vault of a famous Farsunian collector of the arcane can be found the tattered fragments of a manuscript. Written by the dread mage Shuma Gorath this manuscript contains the only known observations by an outsider of the internal machinations of a misunderstood death cult that appears to revere the sanctity of life, instilling in its followers the belief that there is no such thing as death – only life yet to be lived again. According to Shuma Gorath, there exists throughout the Seven Empires and beyond a belief in a unifying force that is the essence of all life – this includes the animating vigor that stimulates the thoughts and actions and simple quality of being of all living things, even the gods. This belief appears to transcend borders, culture, and even time itself, as there can be found scattered throughout the world secret temples dedicated to the veneration of those spiritual beings who safeguard this concept. The central tenet of worship teaches that all life is an expression of the Source and that the Source manifests itself through limitless diversity in an infinite variety of physical and spiritual forms. The expected expression of worship differs greatly from one regional cult to another and is as diverse as the various peoples that make up the human race, but has as its defining focus one shared symbolic element: the Door. The legend of the Door suggests that there exists a fixed point in time and space that remains locked outside of spatial reality and yet serves as a doorway between worlds, dimensions, and universes, the number of which are incalculable. Worlds within worlds, universes within universes. This Door is an expression of all possibilities and is guarded by the Keeper who, it is believed, shepherds onward to its destination each life force that has shed its connection to its former existence. Thus, it is believed that death is nothing more than the next step of a never-ending life journey. “What is death but a traversing of eternities and a crossing of cosmic oceans?” The Disciples of the Door believe that each living thing contains within its material form a spark of the divine that defies the icy finality of death, and instead seeks always to flow back to the Source which they believe gave birth to all life. Adherents believe that when one aspect of their life journey ends, they are cast back upon the river of ethereal consciousness to travel again to the cosmic oceans of life, wherein they will embark upon a new life on a new shore. Disciples of the Door believe also that they are aided in their journey back to the source by a mystical and powerful entity known only as the Keeper of the Door. Because life exists on an endless variety of material and spiritual planes, claiming innumerable forms both physical and mystical, a continuous series of interblended worlds within worlds, universes within universes, dimensions within dimensions is created. It is for this very reason that the Keeper guards the Door, for there are forces at work in this and every world that seek to break the bounds of material limitations and harness the power of the Door to subjugate Life itself. THE OLD SERPENT The Old Serpent has existed perhaps before humanity itself, an ancient god from the era when the predecessors of all the human and semi-human races walked the earth. Known to some as Yig, the Old Serpent’s most common name in the ages yet to come is Set. The Old Serpent is the patron of the serpent-men and perhaps their creator, and as a result, they are often found wherever any worshippers of the Old Serpent flourish. Even in civilized Valusia, the Temple of the Serpent is devoted to this god, however baleful his aspect is. FIGURES OF MYTH AND MAGIC The following are figures are known throughout the Thurian Age, their names venerated and spoken of in dread, in equal measure. Each is potentially a source of knowledge or potentially a foe of considerable power. So great are their abilities they are not described in mortal terms, and are listed in these pages solely as legends.

58 CHAPTER 4 KARON THE FERRYMAN There is a place at the edge of the known world where the endless grasslands of Grondar terminate abruptly upon the banks of the mighty Stagus River. It is this great river, teeming with all manner of foul serpents and freshwater sharks, which separates the Seven Empires from the realms of horror and mysticism that lie beyond. It is here upon the banks of the Stagus that legends speak of an ancient folk of the Elder Race called Karon the Ferryman, brooding silently next to a large boat, patiently awaiting the approach of reckless souls who, whether driven by madness, fear, or desperation, seek to leave the human world behind and cross over into the unknown world of magic, myth, and legend. For a fee, Karon will ferry travelers across the river but not before conveying an ominous warning: “They who ride beyond the sun-rise, return not!” His aged appearance and ragged garments do not hide his kingly demeanor nor the enormous strength of his gigantic frame. A descendent of the race that once ruled the world ere the fathers of the Seven Empires came out of the east with fire and sword to drive them to the brink of extinction, Karon has lived for hundreds of years and is often eager to speak with the sons of Man and can provide — for a price — more than a means of traverse to the desolate lands beyond the Edge of the World. Karon is described further on page 78 of Chapter 5: Encounters. NAYAH THE MAGICIAN High above the emerald waves of the ocean looms the windswept crags of Valla the star-lifter, Mu’s mightiest mountain. Perched upon its cliffs and precipices sprawl the remnants of an ancient city called Na-hor, the last great urban relic of the civilization of Mu. It alone of Mu’s illustrious and celebrated Twenty Cities survived Poseidon’s Purge, a defiant reminder of the rebellion of the Men of the Mountains against the kings of Mu and their subsequent rejection of Poseidon. That rebellion was led in equal parts by Nayah of the Shining City and his lord ruler Nyulah of Mu, high priest of the First God, the Ape God, Ke-nahaa. It is said that Nayah the magician, last and greatest priest of Ke-nahaa, had himself become a god, having sipped from the elixir of life. SHUMA GORATH A being of the most ancient times, described alternately as a patron, a god, a horror, and a myth, Shuma Gorath is remembered in the pre-Cataclysmic age only as a name scrawled in the title of a set of blasphemous tomes. Despite this, the name holds a deep resonance among humans of all castes and places, from the most savage island tribesman to the most jaded courtesan in Valusia’s ancient alleys. Legends whispered by candlelight in the most secret and darkest of chambers suggest Shuma Gorath predated humanity, possibly predated the terrible Serpent People, and may have predated the Earth or even the Galaxy itself. Some scholars, speaking idly in sunlit towers of ivory and sandstone, suggest no such being ever existed, that the syllables of the name are simply a powerful spell or hex, whose connection to nearby dimensions disturbs human thoughts and souls much like a pebble dropped into a pod. It should be noted, however, that those same scholars rarely voice those hypotheses in the dark hours of the night. Whichever idea is the truth, or whatever reality lies between the ideas, Shuma Gorath is a being of invocation. Its name is spoken in dark spells, meditated upon by sorcerers of the old traditions, and hissed by charlatans to frighten the gullible. There is power behind the name, whether from the warp and weft of the multiverse, or from a dark and terrible demi-urge, and those who conjure by it are often found harrowed, mad, or missing shortly thereafter.

Myth and Magic 59 ARTIFACTS OF NOTE In the many thousands of years of Valusian history, dozens and hundreds of tomes, blades, mantles, and jewels have become fabled objects renowned for their power and worth. Most are mundane objects carried by extraordinary individuals. Their power consists only in their ability to inspire and terrify the gullible. However, a handful of objects are imbued with eldritch power and terrible wisdom, granting power to those strong enough to wield and understand them. The Iron-bound Books of Shuma Gorath As their names suggest, these ancient grimoires are bound in plates of iron etched with eldritch symbols which seem to writhe when viewed at the edges of one’s vision. The pages within are made of some sort of vellum, sourced from the flesh of a creature unidentifiable, and show remarkable resistance to age and damage. On these pages is scrawled a language forgotten for epochs, translatable only through magics which allow a sorcerer to see back in time far enough to learn the tongue from those speaking it in towers and libraries long turned to dust. Those who do so uncover the books’ terrible secret. The pages spell out the story of Shuma Gorath, said to be an ancient being of darkness and horror who once ruled the world. Worse still, woven within the history of this ancient demi-urge are several spells for contacting this being and bringing its dark power into the world. Only the most depraved or desperate sorcerers would dare use these spells, such as the mad fool Rotath. Its story alone is enough to break lesser minds, though others claim this is mere myth, penned by vainglorious sorcerer seeking immortality through reputation alone. Using the iron-bound books of Shuma Gorath allows any caster to act as though they possess the Curse talent even if they do not. Ambitious and foolish users of magic could also use the tomes as a Talisman, or even to establish Shuma Gorath as a Patron, with results left to the gamemaster and player. Nayah’s Testimony Certainly the greatest magician of his age, and perhaps the greatest magician in human history, Nayah of the Shining City spent some of his later years writing a history of the world. This was no mere remembrance of recent decades, but a full accounting of the world’s history from its first formation up through the time of Kull. Nayah pored through manuscripts, scryed through space and time, and sent his perceptions backward to ages undreamt of, to research this comprehensive history. The truths he discovered shattered his mind, and the wise assume many parts of the book are inaccurate... at least, they hope this is so. Any historian or sorcerer using Nayah’s testimony gains two additional points of Momentum for any success a test to cast Atavistic Voyage, research magic, find a lost location, or uncover a fact about times long forgotten. However, delving into the tome’s secrets is not without risk. A test resulting in Consequences suffers double the normal amount, with half immediately appearing as 1 Stress for every two Consequences rolled. The gamemaster should inflict the other Consequences in the form of long-term horror or madness as appropriate. The Red Jewel of Pictdom Impossibly ancient, glinting and dancing in the refracted light which seems to shine not from without but from within, the Red Jewel of Pictdom is the ultimate symbol of authority and power amongst that strange, defiant, barbarous people. Known amongst the Picts from before language had even begun to escape their lips, it has always been the gleaming center of their world, the proof of their capacity to endure. In exceptional circumstances, the Picts have entrusted the Jewel to the keeping of another, to one who was not born a Pict but has proven themselves of sufficient mettle to bear the responsibility of such a position. This is the greatest honor which the Picts can bestow—to be trusted not simply with the symbol of their people but also their history for, while the Picts trust little in magic, through some peculiar trick, if one raises the Jewel to the sun at the right angle, one can see deep into the ancient past of the barbarians, and perhaps, into their future. When threatened, the Picts turn to the Jewel and to its silent wisdom, knowing that, in its many, undetected facets, an answer lurks.

60 CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 5 ENCOUNTERS “True,” said Kull. “I remember the legends—Valka!” He stopped short, staring, for suddenly, like the silent swinging wide of a mystic door, misty, unfathomed reaches opened in the recesses of his consciousness and for an instant he seemed to gaze back through the vastnesses that spanned life and life; seeing through the vague and ghostly fogs dim shapes reliving dead centuries—men in combat with hideous monsters, vanquishing a planet of frightful terrors. — “The Shadow Kingdom” Though the Thurian Age is a time of decline for most of the world, it is nonetheless filled with newly emerging civilizations built upon the ruins of older, long-forgotten empires. Humans of many cultures and races fill the streets of cities that were built by far stranger hands, and the hinterlands between these cities are strewn with ruins, but also small villages and settlements that show a vibrancy lost elsewhere. This chapter presents a variety of encounters, whether mortals, beasts, unnatural creatures, or folk of renown, for the gamemaster’s use. Furthermore, the Conan corebook and extensive line of sourcebooks provide many other appropriate entries, and some of the beings presented here may even be encountered in the Hyborian Age in some form or another. PEOPLE OF THE THURIAN AGE Few names outlasted the end of the Thurian Age, and while scraps of stories and lore exalt names such as Kull and Brule and speak in dread whispers of Thulsa Doom and the Dark Druid, most people have been forgotten. To avoid a world empty of common folk, the following writeups are provided for the gamemaster to use in encounters or as non-player character allies or enemies, to be modified as desired.

62 CHAPTER 5 ATLANTEAN SAVAGE (TOUGHENED) The island of Atlantis is ancient, yet her people have barely risen above a tribal level, surpassed by even the Picts on their own nearby island kingdom. These barbaric people, nonetheless, are proud hunters, and adept at sailing. The coastal tribes suffer mightily at the hands of the Valusian navy, who raid Atlantis incessantly, taking captives back to Valusia as slaves, and they are no friends to the Picts, south of them. Remote on their island, Atlanteans view themselves as alone in the world, enemies of all, and they frequently mount raids upon the Valusian coastline for profit, glory, and out of revenge. Some few Atlanteans return to their homeland after escaping from slavery in Valusia and tell of the glories of that terrible yet mighty country. BLACK LEGIONNAIRE (TOUGHENED) A regiment within Valusia’s armies formerly charged with the defense of the City of Wonders and the palace itself, the Black Legion were famed for their black-enameled armor and cloaks, grim and efficient defenders of Borna’s reign. Kull’s rise to the throne brought with him his former company, the Red Slayers, and the Black Legion were reassigned, their status diminished within Valusia’s armies. That they were staunchly loyal to Borna played no small part in this demotion. The captain of the Black Legion was the giant Gromel (page 71), a surly man who resents the king’s favoring the Red Slayers over his own legion. Though popular with the soldiers and highly skilled as a warrior, he grew resentful of Kelkor’s position and thus fell in with conspirators, dying at Kull’s hand in an assassination attempt. STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 10, Resolve 9 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 2 ATTACKS ■ Flint Dagger (M): Reach 1, 5 , 1H, Hidden 1, Improvised, Thrown, Unforgiving ■ Flint Spear (M): Reach 2, 2 , 1H Grappling ■ Hunting Bow (M): Range C, 3 , 2H, Volley ■ Pitiless Gaze (T): Range C, 2 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Sea-Raider: Atlantean savages are adept sailors and suffer no penalties to Movement or Combat tests while at sea, even in the stormiest weather. ■ Unchained: Because of a longstanding hatred of Valusia’s slave trade, Atlanteans gain an additional d20 to Combat tests when fighting Valusians up to the normal maximum, and an additional 1 Morale Soak. DOOM SPENDS ■ Maddened Horde: Whenever the gamemaster spends Doom to bring more Atlantean savages into a scene as reinforcements, each Doom counts for two savages instead of one. ■ Dogmatic: Due to their insular nature, Atlanteans must spend 1 Doom to perform any Society-based tests with non-Atlanteans. This does not apply to Atlantean player characters, who are considered exceptional and more open to those from other cultures. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 7 8 8 Agility Brawn Coordination 9 11 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 1 Fortitude 2 Senses 1 Knowledge — Social 1 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 11, Resolve 8 ■ Soak: Armor 4 (Black Plate Armor), Courage 2 ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (M): Reach 2, 7 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Shield (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Knockdown, Shield 2 ■ Poleaxe (R): Range 3, 6 , 2H, Intense, Piercing 1, Vicious 1 ■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 2 mental, Stun

Encounters 63 ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 7 or 10 7 or 10 7 or 10 Agility Brawn Coordination 7 7 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat — or 2 Movement 1 Fortitude 2 Senses 1 Knowledge 1 or 3 Social 1 or 4 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 4, 7, or 9, Resolve 4, 10, or 12 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage — ATTACKS ■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , Hidden 1, Parrying, Thrown, Unforgiving 1 ■ Sword (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Parrying ■ “Know Your Place!” (T): Range C, 2 or 4 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Court Servant: As a member of the royal court, a courtier receives an additional d20 on any Social test while dealing with non-court characters belonging to their kingdom, and an additional d20 on Movement or Senses tests when in the royal domain (castle, estate, etc.). COURTIER (MINION, TOUGHENED, OR NEMESIS) Like a ziggurat, a court is built not on the foundation of its uppermost peak, its ruler, but upon the many men and women who serve the court in some fashion or are associated with it in some fashion. A courtier may be of common or noble birth, with a title assigned by their role or bestowed upon them at birth. Depending on the size of the court, there may be dozens or even hundreds of courtiers, each with a well-defined place within the hierarchy, but inevitably seeking upward mobility. A Minion courtier is a mere servant or minor functionary; Toughened indicates a more capable servant of the court; while a Nemesis is a powerful presence within the complex environment of the court, wielding considerable power to affect the ruler. Such a figure may even be more powerful than the king or queen, with designs upon that very throne they claim to serve. When defining one of these characters, the gamemaster should pick the more appropriate value. Most courtiers are noncombatants, but some few are trained in swordplay, usually with lightweight weapons such as daggers, swords, or the Valusian longsword. SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Black Legionnaire: Accustomed to fighting within tight palace corridors as well as crowded city streets, a Black Legionnaire may ignore any Difficulty modifiers to combat incurred through these circumstances. ■ Defender of Valusia: Long stationed as palace and elite city guard, a Black Legionnaire may reroll any d20s when making Senses tests to detect a potential threat to their charge but must accept the result of the second roll. ■ Poleaxe and Shield: Such is their training that a Black Legionnaire can wield a medium shield while using a poleaxe without any increase to Difficulty. DOOM SPENDS ■ Tarnished Honor: Whenever his own or his legion’s honor is insulted, a Black Legionnaire may spend 1 Doom to make an immediate Swift Action, so long as it is used as an attack against the offender. LEMURIAN PIRATE (TOUGHENED) Inhabiting a chain of islands in the eastern hemisphere, the Lemurians, though still barbarians compared to those of the Seven Empires, are the greatest sailors of their age, harrying most of the coasts with their pirate vessels. Kull himself spent time as a Lemurian pirate, and though some Lemurians are accepted into the military of countries like Valusia, they are nonetheless thought to be undisciplined and dangerous, even as allies. They are more akin to sea-raiders than proper pirates, preying upon coastal communities more than other ships.

64 CHAPTER 5 PICTISH CAVALRY (TOUGHENED) Despite being still thought of as savages by those of the Seven Empires, the Picts of the Thurian Age are far more civilized than their descendants in the later Hyborian Age. Furthermore, they are taller and still possess crafts lost in the Cataclysm, such as metalworking and stonemasonry. Though they inhabit a chain of islands to the west of the Valusian shore, the Picts are excellent horsemen, and Pictish mercenaries swell the ranks of Valusia’s cavalry, entire regiments of their like striking terror into Valusia’s enemies. Brule the Spear-slayer (page 70) commands these outriders when he is with them, and they also serve upon his war-galley. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 9 7 8 8 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 9 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 3 Fortitude 2 Senses 1 Knowledge — Social — STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 9, Resolve 8 ■ Soak: Armor 1 (Leather), Courage 1 ATTACKS ■ Saber (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Cavalry 1, Parrying ■ Spear (M): Reach 3, 5 , Unbalanced, Piercing 1 ■ Guttural Snarl (T): Range C, 2 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Demon Rider: Picts are frighteningly effective combatants when horsed. When mounted, a Pict may add +1d20 to their Combat Field of Expertise for tests against unmounted combatants. ■ Strength from the Sea (Brule’s Forces): Brule’s dedicated troops, 100 in number, are also used to combat aboard ship and only suffer penalties in the fiercest of weather. ■ War Lancer: When making a test to control a mount in combat using their Movement Field of Expertise, a Pict may re-roll any d20s that are not successful but must accept the second result. DOOM SPENDS ■ Like a Centaur: In mounted combat, Picts prefer to be lightly armored and use nimble, fast horses versus the traditional cavalry mounts. A Pict can spend X Doom to reduce the Difficulty of any terrain obstacle by X steps, to a minimum of 0. ■ Spear Catcher: If a spear is thrown at a foe and either kills them or misses them, the Pict horseman may immediately spend 1 Doom to make an additional free Move Action to recover the thrown spear. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 7 7 8 Agility Brawn Coordination 11 10 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 2 Fortitude 1 Senses 2 Knowledge — Social — STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 10, Resolve 8 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 ATTACKS ■ Shortsword (M): Reach 1, 6 , 1H, Parrying ■ Sea Axe (M): Reach 2, 5 , 1H, Intense, Piercing 1 ■ Javelin (R): Reach 2, 5 , 1H, Fragile, Piercing 1, Thrown ■ Savage Mein (T): Range C, 2 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Strength from the Sea: Lemurian pirates are used to combat aboard ship and only suffer penalties in the fiercest of weather. ■ Boarding Action: Pirates are experts at boarding unfriendly craft and know all the best places to seek cover. When boarding, Lemurian pirates gain 2 Cover Soak against missile weapons. DOOM SPENDS ■ Unsinkable: While fighting to defend their vessel, a Lemurian pirate may spend 2 Doom to perform a Knowledge test, requiring one Standard Action to perform. If successful, the vessel has 1 point of Structure temporarily patched until the end of the encounter. See Conan the Pirate for more information about ships and naval combat.

Encounters 65 ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 9 8 7 8 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 11 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 3 Movement 2 Fortitude 1 Senses 1 Knowledge — Social — STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 11, Resolve 8 ■ Soak: Armor 4 (Red Plate Armor), Courage 1 ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (M): Reach 2, 7 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Lance (M): Reach 3, 6 , Unbalanced, Cavalry 2, Fragile ■ Shield (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Knockdown, Shield 2 ■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 2 mental, Stun Three hundred of these were men of the Red Slayers, Kull’s cavalry, and the most terrible soldiery of the earth. They were composed mostly of Valusian hillmen, the strongest and most vigorous of a degenerating race. — Untitled Draft SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Battle Brother: If following the orders of a commanding officer or their king, the Red Slayer gains 1 Momentum for any defensive actions directed at protecting an ally, such as defending their flank, fighting an opponent the ally is unaware of, parrying a missile weapon directed at them, etc. ■ Red Slayer: The Red Slayers are the elite amongst Valusia’s armies. When fighting alongside at least one of their regiment, the Red Slayer can re-roll any d20 that fails to report a success on any Melee or Parry test but must accept the result of the second roll. ■ Saddle Born: When making attacks from horseback, a Red Slayer may perform a Swift Action for 1 Momentum rather than 2. DOOM SPENDS ■ Armored Knight: While fighting on horseback, a Red Slayer parries with the Doom cost reduced by 1. ■ Rally: Whenever an ally is incapacitated (slain, knocked unconscious, etc.) a Red Slayer may spend 1 Doom to gain 1 Morale Soak. RED SLAYER (TOUGHENED) Members of the greatest of all regiments of soldiers in the Seven Empires, the Red Slayers are the best trained, most fiercely motivated, best equipped, and supposedly incorruptible. Kull himself joined the Red Slayers after his short career as a gladiator in Valusia’s arenas, rising in ranks to become their general, and it is the Red Slayers that he surrounds himself with, his personal guard and favored regiment. Clad head to toe in reddish bronze armor, they are primarily cavalry, but are equally adept at fighting as infantry when need be, or as palace guard. Their second commander, Kelkor (page 72), is one of Kull’s closest allies, and the Red Guard (for so the palace contingent is called) are fiercely loyal to their king, who they remember as one of their own.

66 CHAPTER 5 BEASTS AND MONSTERS Many fabulous beasts and unnatural creatures populate the remote regions and ruined places of the Thurian Age, moving surreptitiously throughout civilized places, or existing beyond time and space in other worlds or hells best not thought about. Though these creatures are generally hostile to humanity and are primarily foes, some few can be parleyed with. APE-MAN (MINION) Longtime foes of the Atlantean people, the ape-men are among their fiercest enemies. Squat, black-skinned, and hairier than the Atlanteans, the ape-men are a more primitive offshoot of humankind and a rival for territory and survival. Driven to near-extinction by centuries of warring and extermination by the first Atlantean culture-hero, Am-ra of the Ta-an, this race is often confused for another black-skinned race that fought the Atlanteans in times long past. Now, they are dwindled to a remnant, and dwell in the highest mountains and lost valleys of Atlantis, with smaller tribes lingering on the islands to the north of that island, cut off by floods that divided that land. Ape-men are equivalent to the savages described on page 320 of the Conan corebook. TIGER (TOUGHENED) Large, solitary predators, these big cats are recognized by their distinctive striped coats, which aid them when stalking prey through long grass. They are powerful swimmers and deadly hunters, and while humans are not their preferred prey, they will not hesitate to lash out if threatened or startled, or when defending their territory. Tigers are especially prevalent on the island of Atlantis, and some of the barbarians of that land take them as spirit animals, vowing never to slay them unless forced to. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 9 4 7 9 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 11 4 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 3 Fortitude 1 Senses 1 Knowledge — Social — STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 11, Resolve 9 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 TALKING ANIMALS Legends among the primitive Atlanteans and Picts tell of an age when all living creatures were able to speak and be understood by one another, across species. Civilized scholars and philosophers of the age recognize that these apocryphal folktales and legends have no truth to them, while “the superstitious” savages know the truth about such things. Though civilized folk believe that the gods bequeathed only humankind with the gift of speech, it is not their place to impose such a rule across all living things. The Commune with the Wild spell in the CONAN corebook describes a sorcerous method of talking to animals, but in Kull’s age such communication is not always a product of magic. Animals of the Old Race knew the gift of speech, and at the gamemaster’s discretion, a creature with this lineage may speak human tongues, with suitable Intelligence attributes and Knowledge and/or Social Fields of Expertise to make such communication worthwhile. Such creatures have Intelligence of at least 6 and 1+ in those Fields of Expertise and may possess additional talents relating to communication or lore. Some may even know sorcery. He swore testily that a talking cat was a snare and a fraud, a swindle and a delusion and maintained that should such a thing exist, it was a direct insult to the gods, who ordained that only man should enjoy the power of speech. But Kull knew that in the old times beasts had talked to men for he had heard the legends, handed down from his barbarian ancestors. So he was skeptical but open to conviction. — “The Cat and the Skull” Far off, a tiger roared suddenly. Khor-nah made an instinctive motion toward the flint-pointed spear which lay beside him. Kull turned his head, and a strange light flickered in his cold gray eyes. “The striped brothers hunt tonight,” said he. — “Exile of Atlantis”

Encounters 67 WOLF-MAN (TOUGHENED) In times long forgotten the Tribes of the Moon dominated the world in the time before humankind rose from apedom. They were a nomadic tribe of hunters, roaming far and wide across the continent that would one day become the Seven Empires. A proud and primitive people, the wolf-men were, as the name suggests, able to don the form of wolves by night, and walked as men by day. Their culture, though primitive, was nonetheless shared across the Tribes, and it was they who suffered the hardest when confronted with humankind’s ascent. In the great, centuries-long wars between humankind and the wild creatures that held dominion over the earth, the wolf-men were among the few survivors. However, the victory was pyrrhic, as they were nearly exterminated, surviving only in small pockets deep in the wilderness and abandoned places, hiding their existence from humankind lest they draw its wrath. Nonetheless, the wolf-men outlasted the age of Kull and the Thurian Age entirely, going to haunt human history with legends and folktales of those who walked like wolves. The wolf-men are equivalent to werewolves, described on page 342 of the Conan corebook. It was a hideous, a bestial face. The eyes gleamed with a frightful ferocity; the snarling lips were drawn back from gleaming teeth, which to my startled gaze appeared more like bestial fangs than human teeth. Silently the thing (I can not call it a human) slunk toward me. Gasping with horror I sprang back and through the door, just as the thing launched itself through the air, with a sinuous motion which even then made me think of a leaping wolf. — “Wolfshead” ATTACKS ■ Vicious Bite (M): Reach 1, 5 , Grappling, Unforgiving 2 ■ Claws (M): Reach 2, 6 , Vicious 1 ■ Savage Growl (T): Range M, 4 mental, Vicious 1 SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Keen Senses (Scent) ■ Pounce: A tiger making the Movement Minor Action before attempting a close combat attack may add the Knockdown quality to its Claws attack. If the target is knocked prone, then the tiger may spend one Momentum to make a Bite attack against the same target. MONSTERS OF OLD The world has seen many species flourish and fall in its gradual spiral into entropy and ruin, and humankind remembers many of these creatures. They figure in folktales and legends, and are still present in architecture and cultural motifs, even if they are thought extinct or mythical only. The following creatures, at the gamemaster’s discretion, may exist in some form or another, whether as legends describe, or as some other creature, mistakenly identified as mythical beasts. ■ Bat-men, Bird-women, Harpies: These winged, half-human creatures range from beauteous to monstrous and disgusting. These creatures are certainly real, as they continue to plague humankind, bold and bloodthirsty enough to wipe out entire villages. They could be winged apes or equivalent to the winged one, described on pages 343–344 of the CONAN corebook. ■ Demons: This can refer to any number of creatures from the mortal plane, the Outer Dark, or some other mythical otherworld. Many are described on pages 345–347 of the CONAN corebook. ■ Dragons: Creatures of many different types existing before even the birth of the Thurian Age, these exist in dwindling numbers in remote places, forgotten or unexplored. Use the forest dragon on page 335 of the CONAN corebook. ■ Goblins: Sub-human creatures of bestial aspect, these figure into many myths present in the age of the Seven Empires and beyond, feared by Picts, Atlanteans, and Lemurians, and are said to still flourish in the Lost Lands beyond human reckoning. Some superstitions say that they still dwell among humankind, hidden beneath notice and up to all manner of wickedness. These might be ratthings (page 341, CONAN corebook).

68 CHAPTER 5 KULL AND HIS COURT Upon his rise to the Topaz Throne of Valusia, Kull established a tight-knit group of advisors, counselors, and allies to help him tame the Purple Kingdom and hold onto his crown. To a man, they are steadfastly loyal to the Atlantean barbarian, and he to them. A campaign set in Kull’s court will have the player characters encountering some, if not all, of these figures, and forming their own alliances or rivalries with them as appropriate. KULL, KING OF VALUSIA Whether he was born to the outlaw people of the Tiger Valley on the savage isle of Atlantis, or merely resembles them, Kull was orphaned almost immediately in the flood that wiped out his people, whoever they were. He grew up among animals, tigers and wolves his only friends, a hairless ape without human language or customs. Found by members of the Sea-mountain tribe and raised as one of their own, Kull excelled in hunting, fighting, and quickly rose to a place of prominence within their tribe, though his heart was restless. He was skeptical of many of their long-revered traditions and openly challenged authority. Instead, he burned with a vision of visiting far-off Valusia. In his dreams he was heralded as a king. When he and his allies — Gor-na and Am-ra — encountered a girl bound for execution by her kin for the “crime” of marrying a Lemurian pirate when her own man was slain, Kull realized that the world of the Sea-mountain tribe, and of Atlantis itself, was no longer enough for him. He slew her before her people could put her to the torch, and fled, forever exiling himself from the island of his birth. From Savagery to Civilization Seeking a means of escaping Atlantis, Kull was soon after captured by Lemurian pirates and forced into galley slavery for two miserable years, until he won his freedom and threw in with his former captors. Alongside the Lemurian pirates, Kull harried the shores of Thule, Kamelia, and finally Valusia itself, at which point he went ashore and took up outlawry. He dwelt in the hills of that mighty nation and made many a merchant and noble poorer, learning the ways of civilized folk by preying upon them. At some point during this period, he roamed beyond Valusia’s borders, adventuring within the other kingdoms of the Seven Empires, until he returned to Valusia. Eventually, Kull’s fame and success as an outlaw grew so great that the authorities were forced to deal with him, and they exhausted much effort capturing the Atlantean outlander and bringing him to justice. Kull was brought to the City of Wonders in chains, exactly how Gor-na had predicted he would visit that city, and he was sent into their deepest dungeons, to rot until he died. However, Valusia’s arenas were always hungry for more fodder to feed the swords of its gladiators, and Kull was brought out of his prison to serve this purpose. The Atlantean barbarian, however, was more than a match for any civilized man, even a trained killer such as those who fought in Valusia’s arenas, and he not only survived but dominated. He was transferred from the prison to the arena, still a captive, but now a gladiator, and Kull’s name and popularity earned him much acclaim, until he earned the attention of King Borna of Valusia, who granted the Atlantean his freedom upon a particularly magnificent victory. Though he could have survived in any number of professions, he chose the path of arms, and enlisted in Valusia’s army as a mercenary. Once more, the indominable savage rose to acclaim from amongst his peers, and soon he became an officer, a captain, and eventually a commander of the Red Slayers, the most elite of Valusia’s fighting forces save for the Black Legion. To Take a Crown As a commander within Valusia’s army and an agent of King Borna’s policies, Kull learned firsthand how erratic and unfit the king was, feared and hated by his people and the nobles he ruled over. As part of Borna’s inner circle, he saw much that caused him distaste, and he was sent from the capital city to defend the kingdom along its borders. A group of nobles sought his support in an insurrection, thinking that the popular barbarian warrior — praised in verse by the renowned poet and revolutionary Ridondo himself — would make an excellent figurehead for a rebellion that would put them in charge. The threat of the Triple Federation to Valusia’s north kept most of Borna’s forces occupied. Kull’s Red Slayers threw in with him, and soon he led the battle to liberate Valusia from her tyrant king, the head of a rebel army. Kull’s ambition was not so limited as to see himself as a mere liberator, however, and he not only won the battlefields he fought Borna’s armies upon, he fought his way through the city and to the very steps of the castle, where he slew the king in single combat. “From a wild tribesman in Atlantis, I rose, passing through the galleys of Lemuria — a slave for two years at the oars — then an outlaw in the hills of Valusia — then a captive in her dungeons — a gladiator in her arenas — a soldier in her armies — a commander — a king!” — “By This Axe I Rule!”

KULL, KING OF VALUSIA AGILITY 10 Skill Exp Focus TN Acrobatics +4 +4 14 Melee +5 +5 15 Stealth +3 +3 13 AWARENESS 9 Skill Exp Focus TN Insight +1 — 10 Observation +2 +1 11 Survival +3 +3 12 Thievery +2 +2 11 BRAWN 13 Skill Exp Focus TN Athletics +3 +3 16 Resistance +2 +2 15 COORDINATION 11 Skill Exp Focus TN Parry +4 +4 15 Ranged Weapons +2 +1 13 Sailing +3 +3 14 INTELLIGENCE 9 Skill Exp Focus TN Alchemy — — 9 Craft — — 9 Healing +1 +1 10 Linguistics +4 +2 13 Lore +1 +1 10 Siegecraft +2 +1 11 PERSONALITY 8 Skill Exp Focus TN Animal Handling +1 +1 9 Command +3 +2 11 Counsel +1 +1 9 Persuade +2 +2 10 Society +1 — 9 WILLPOWER 9 Skill Exp Focus TN Discipline +4 +3 13 Sorcery — — 9 SOCIAL Social Standing 2 Renown 6 Fortune 3 Gold 5+ TALENTS ■ Agile ■ Blood on Steel ■ Born Swimmer ■ Born Wild ■ Captain ■ Courageous ■ Deflection ■ Deft Blade ■ Hardy ■ Healthy Superstition ■ Heed My Words ■ Indefatigable ■ Inspiring Leader ■ Iron Will ■ Killing Strike ■ Lightning Reflexes ■ Living Shadow ■ Might ■ Nimble as a Cat ■ No Mercy ■ Pantherish Twist ■ Reflexive Block ■ Riposte ■ Sailor ■ Savage Instincts ■ Sharp Senses ■ Strategist ■ Strong Back ■ Traveler’s Tongue ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (M): Reach 2, 8 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Ancient Battle Axe (M): Reach 2, 7 , Unbalanced, Intense, Vicious 1 ■ Brawl (M): Reach 1, 5 , 1H, Improvised, Stun ■ Icy Glare (T): Range C, 4 mental, Stun BACKGROUND ■ Homeland: Atlantis ■ Homeland Talent: Primitive (page 8) ■ Caste: Feral (page 9) ■ Caste Talents: Survivor, Vagabond (Conan corebook, page 21) ■ Story: One of the Pack (page 14) ■ Trait: Animal Lover ■ Archetype: Barbarian ■ Nature: Superstitious (page 19) ■ Education: Under Duress ■ War Story: Enslaved and Escaped ■ Languages: Atlantean, Lemurian, Lost Tongue, Old Tongue, Pictish, Valusian ■ Social Standing: 9 (King) ■ Renown: 6+ SOAK Soak Armor 3 (Mail Corselet) Courage 4 STRESS Vigor Resolve FORTUNE POINTS HARMS Wounds Trauma OTHER POSSESSIONS As King of Valusia, Kull has access to unimaginable wealth, including as much Gold as he can carry, any equipment of the best quality available, and any resources he requires. ■ Crown of Valusia

70 CHAPTER 5 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 14, Resolve 14 ■ Soak: Armor 3 (Plate Corselet), Courage 3 ATTACKS ■ Sword (M): Reach 2, 6 , 1H, Parrying ■ Spear (M): Reach 3, 6 , Unbalanced, Piercing 1, Thrown (Medium) ■ Thrown Spear (R): Range M, 7 , Piercing 1 ■ Fierce Glare (T): Range M, 4 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Pictish Chief: Brule is a renowned Pictish chief, and any dealings with Picts are reduced by one step of Difficulty. ■ Red Jewel of Pictdom: A gift from Kull, Brule wears an iron ring in which is set a large red jewel, which will over centuries eventually come represent his line, the Mak Morns. It provides a free point of Momentum when used in conjunction with the Astral Wandering or Atavistic Voyage spells. See page 59 for more information on this priceless artifact. DOOM SPENDS ■ Sworn Ally: So close is the bond between Kull and Brule that whenever assisting Kull in combat, such as fighting side-by-side or back-to-back, Brule may spend 2 Doom and reduce the Difficulty of any parry attempts made by either man during that turn by one step. ■ Savage in Court: Brule’s nature, savage in comparison to the Valusian court, causes him frustration and occasionally blinds him to the true nature of what is transpiring. He must spend 1 Doom or suffer a one-step penalty to any Social or Senses tests relating to affairs or events at court where his judgment might be clouded. BRULE THE SPEAR-SLAYER (NEMESIS) A Pict of noble birth, Brule is a hero and a chief among the Picts, as accomplished a warrior and hunter as any that proud kingdom has produced. He has had an illustrious career, a deadly and capable combatant, fearless in battle and trusted by those he commands. Distinctively, Brule’s eyes are a cold, volcanic blue, unlike the black eyes of other Picts. He is marked, as many of his rank, by three parallel scars running across his breast. A close ally of the Pictish ambassador Ka-Nu, Brule is nonetheless staunchly loyal to King Kull, a bond between Pict and Atlantean that transcends brotherhood. He is fearless in Kull’s defense, fighting at his side always, offering wisdom and counsel to counter the barbarian’s reckless, impulsive tendencies. Brule cuts a barbaric figure in the Valusian court, disdaining any clothing but for a loincloth while in court, in which is sheathed a short, curved sword, and often in his hand is the spear with which he demonstrates why he is called ‘Spear-slayer’. Later, Brule adopts a straight Valusian blade, adding the name ‘Sword-slayer’ to his titles. He wears a ring in which is set an impressive red gem, a gift from Kull. This priceless stone eventually becomes the Red Jewel of Pictdom, sacred to the Pictish people, and upon his arm he wears a golden bracelet given him by Ka-nu. Despite his close friendship with Kull, Brule cannot stand the confines of civilized company and court for too long at a time and returns regularly to visit his people, the Borni, on Kaa-u, the Isles of the Picts. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 12 9 10 11 Agility Brawn Coordination 11 11 11 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 4 Movement 3 Fortitude 3 Senses 3 Knowledge 1 Social 1

Encounters 71 His nephew Dondal was a slim, foppish youth with keen dark eyes and a pleasant smile. His chief virtue lay in the fact that he kept a discreet tongue in his head and never repeated what he heard at court. For this reason he was admitted into places not even warranted by his close kinship to Tu. — “Swords of the Purple Kingdom” ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 10 10 10 Agility Brawn Coordination 7 7 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 4 Movement 1 Fortitude — Senses 1 Knowledge 2 Social 2 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 7, Resolve 10 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage — ATTACKS ■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying, Thrown, Unforgiving 1 ■ Sword (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Parrying ■ “Know Your Place!” (T): Range C, 2 or 4 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Court Servant: As a member of the royal court, Dondal receives an additional +d20 on any Social test while dealing with non-noble Valusians, and an additional +d20 on Movement or Senses tests when in the royal domain (castle, estate, etc.). ■ Deft Horseman: On horseback, Dondal can use his Combat Area of Expertise instead of Movement. ■ Deflection (Conan corebook, page 75). DOOM SPENDS ■ “Conspirators!”: Dondal is secretly involved in a conspiracy to overthrow Kull. For 2 Doom, Dondal can summon a Squad of four Minion guards led by a Toughened guard, all corrupt, loyal to him, and burning with hatred for their king. DONDAL (NEMESIS) Tu’s nephew Dondal is a regular and beloved fixture in the Valusian court, frequently accompanying his uncle to chamber meetings and other negotiations about affairs of state, often far above what his status would allow. A handsome and pleasant youth, whose silence and discretion are counted as his primary virtues, Dondal’s smile belies a terrible secret. Driven into debt and hardship by his uncle’s parsimony, Dondal fell into the sway of usurers, who in turn exerted their influence to turn him into a conspirator against the crown. To keep his identity secret, Dondal took on the identity of the Masked One, scheming with the Verulian government to unseat Kull and gain vengeance upon his uncle. When the Verulian conspiracy comes to its fruition and acts against Kull, Dondal meets his end at Brule’s hands, his secret identity revealed.

72 CHAPTER 5 GROMEL (NEMESIS) Commander of the once-lauded Black Legion (page 62), the “hairy giant” Gromel, is a somber, surly man who resents the king for favoring the Red Slayers over his legion, and especially placing the Lemurian Kelkor above him. Though popular with the soldiers and highly skilled as a warrior, he is a slow-witted man, unaware that he lacks any sort of real leadership, and thus he grows increasingly resentful of Kelkor’s favor with the king, despising them both. Gromel falls in with a group of conspirators who make an assassination attempt upon their barbarian king, and he dies by Kull’s hand, the first blow struck in that deadly exchange. KELKOR THE RED SLAYER (NEMESIS) The second commander of the Red Slayers, Kelkor is one of Kull’s staunchest and most reliable allies, as they were battle-brothers when Kull was one of that company. A Lemurian by birth, and thus prohibited from holding the highest rank within the Red Slayers, Kelkor is nonetheless more akin to a Valusian in appearance, taller and stronger than any of his people, but still marked with their strange eyes. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 8 9 10 Agility Brawn Coordination 9 14 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 3 Movement 1 Fortitude 4 Senses 1 Knowledge — Social 1 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 18, Resolve 14 ■ Soak: Armor 4 (Black Plate Armor), Courage 4 ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (M): Reach 2, 9 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Shield (M): Reach 2, 6 , 1H, Knockdown, Shield 2 ■ Poleaxe (R): Range 3, 8 , 2H, Intense, Piercing 1, Vicious 1 ■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 3 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Champion of Valusia: Gromel can roll +2d20 on any Senses tests to detect a potential threat to Valusia or any placed in his charge. ■ Giant Amongst Men: Gromel counts as having the benefits of the Monstrous Creature special ability (Conan corebook, page 310) but not the penalties. DOOM SPENDS ■ The Honor of the Black Squadron: Whenever his own or his squadron’s honor is insulted, Gromel may spend 1 Doom to make an immediate attack against the offender. This is a free action in addition to any other attacks Gromel might make. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 10 9 9 9 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 12 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 3 Movement 2 Fortitude 2 Senses 2 Knowledge 1 Social 1 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 14, Resolve 11 ■ Soak: Armor 4 (Red Plate Armor), Courage 2 ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (M): Reach 2, 8 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Lance (M): Reach 3, 7 , Unbalanced, Cavalry 2, Fragile ■ Shield (M): Reach 2, 5 , 1H, Knockdown, Shield 2 ■ Steely Glare (T): Range C, 3 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Battle Brother: If following the orders of a commanding officer or their king, the Red Slayer gains 1 Momentum for any defensive actions directed at protecting an ally, such as defending their flank, fighting an opponent the ally is unaware of, parrying a missile weapon directed at them, etc. ■ Red Slayer: The Red Slayers are the elite amongst Valusia’s armies. When fighting alongside at least one of their regiment, the Red Slayer can re-roll any d20 that fails to report a success on any Melee or Parry test but must accept the result of the second roll. ■ Saddle Born: When making attacks from horseback, a Red Slayer may perform a Swift Action for 1 Momentum rather than 2.

Encounters 73 KUTHULOS (TOUGHENED) A renowned scholar famed throughout all Valusia, Kuthulos is distinguished amongst his fellow academics in that he is a slave. Once a respected teacher, philosopher, and lecturer, the Valusian fell into debt due to a scandal that cost him his position, his respectability, and ultimately his freedom. Due to the prestige of having such a noted figure within a household, ownership of Kuthulos has passed from various nobles throughout Valusia, and he has tutored many children of nobles and bureaucrats who serve within the Valusian court. Despite the apparent indignity of enslavement, Kuthulos shows little interest in earning his freedom, and instead finds his position a welcome relief from the rigors of providing his own sustenance and income. Instead, the scholar enjoys the freedom afforded him by his ‘owners’, who provide him every comfort and ample time with which to follow his intellectual pursuits. The duties required of him, teaching and providing counsel, are ones he enjoys and would do as a free man, or even without payment. He was owned for a brief time by the Valusian noblewoman Delcardes, and with her journeyed to the Valusian court with her cat Saremes (page 77). The noblewoman sought Kull’s favor in permitting her to marry, and Kuthulos was the cat’s attendant. Unbeknownst to both, they were pawns of the ancient sorcerer Thulsa Doom, who sought to slay Kull by sending him on a fool’s errand which would only result in death. After these events, Kull purchased Kuthulos from Delcardes, but the scholar refused to be granted his freedom, instead remaining a loyal fixture in Kull’s court and serving as a wise, if peevish, counselor. DOOM SPENDS ■ Armored Knight: While fighting on horseback, a Red Slayer may make parries with the Doom cost reduced by 1. ■ Rally: Whenever an ally is incapacitated (slain, knocked unconscious, etc.) a Red Slayer may spend 1 Doom to gain 1 Morale Soak. A man of terrific power and mighty forces, the most powerful thing about him was his absolute control of himself. An icy calmness had always characterized his words and deeds. In the heat and vituperation of council, in the wild wrack of battle, Kelkor was always cool, never confused. He had few friends, nor did he strive to make friends. His qualities alone had raised him from an unknown warrior in the ranks of the mercenaries to the second highest rank in Valusian armies—and only the fact of his birth debarred him from the highest. — Untitled Draft ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 11 14 10 9 Agility Brawn Coordination 7 7 7 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat — Movement — Fortitude — Senses 1 Knowledge 4 Social 2 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 7, Resolve 9 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 (Cold Logic) ATTACKS ■ Cutting Wisdom (T): Range C, 4 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Atlantean Scholar: When making a Knowledge test, Kuthulos can automatically turn 1d20 into 1 point of Momentum, rather than rolling. Additionally, he may use his Knowledge when making Social tests while mingling with the royal court. ■ Masterful Advisor: Erudite to a fault, when called on to give advice Kuthulos rolls 2d20 and may turn the test into a Success at a Cost if it fails. DOOM SPENDS ■ Faceless Servant: As both a slave and a tutor, Kuthulos is used to blending into the background and being ignored. He may spend 1 Doom to use his Knowledge in place of his Movement or Senses when moving around a court or listening in on the affairs of state, per test. ■ Wall of Words: When debating about philosophy or metaphysics in a struggle, Kuthulos may spend X Doom to force his opponent to re-roll Xd20, but all must accept the result of the re-roll. ■ Fortress of Books: When in the presence of a library, Kuthulos can spend 1 Doom to be Inured to Fear for a scene.

74 CHAPTER 5 RONARO OF HOUSE ATL VOLANTE (NEMESIS) The aristocrat’s aristocrat, Ronaro may at first seem an odd bedfellow for a barbarian like Kull. However, the two have a deep respect and personal understanding, derived primarily from Ronaro’s unfailing loyalty and honor in an otherwise dishonorable people and age. Ronaro is a patrician of the house atl Volante, a powerful family of Valusia. His ancestors include two thousand years’ worth of kings, poets, nobles, knights, and lesser statesmen, and those are just those within living memory. It is very likely his lineage includes aristocracy dating back many centuries further into the past. At a time when most with such ancestry have sunk into decadence and moral decay, Ronaro remains the epitome of intellect and integrity. Described as slim and elegant, with “fine dark eyes and a keen intellectual face” beneath a splendid head of hair, the man is as well-bred physically as intellectually and morally. This may be why Kull and Brule the Spear-Slayer pay him heed long enough for his mind and spirit to shine through, rather than dismissing him as yet another swaddled and pampered son of the rich. For his own part, Ronaro is fascinated with both barbarian kinds. He finds their “primitive vitality” appealing, standing in stark contrast to the weakness and ennui of the royalty he spends most of his life with. Raised with the labyrinth of loyalties, betrayals, whispers, and double-speak of the Valusian courts, he finds their straightforward reasoning and speech refreshing, if curious and bold to the point of foolhardiness. Though he is too honorable to have participated in the double-dealings of the coup that led to Kull’s seizure of King Borna’s crown, he becomes a staunch supporter and fast friend of the monarch afterward. Being unbending in his values, Ronaro makes for a natural ally of principled heroes, or foe of adventurers with a more flexible moral compass. More interestingly, he may serve as an obstacle the characters do not wish to slay, standing opposed to their course but for the right reasons. COUNCILOR TU (NEMESIS) Born a commoner, Tu strove for more in life, and when he was of age he entered Valusian politics within the City of Wonders, eventually becoming a low-ranking courtier in the royal court. From there, he served diligently and with great ingenuity, playing the games of intrigue like a master, surpassing his equals and slowly, deliberately destroying his rivals. Eventually Tu reached the highest rank he could possibly attain, that of the chief councilor. Loyal to the crown and the Topaz Throne, Tu served two kings before Borna, and tried unsuccessfully to guide Borna to rule well, if not justly. When Borna’s reign came to a bloody and alltoo-deserved end, Tu welcomed Borna’s executioner, the Atlantean barbarian named Kull. Tu is a staunch defender of tradition, intimately familiar with all the laws that govern Valusia, for he believes that a kingdom is built upon its laws and customs, which even a king must respect. He tries — sometimes in vain — to instruct Kull in the way of statecraft and kingship, and Tu’s is the cool-headed voice when the barbarian’s passionate responses must be tempered. He is also pragmatist enough to know that a true king’s hands are inevitably bloody, and Tu does not shy from using torture, skullduggery, or other covert means as tools to ensure the stability of the kingdom. Some within the court mutter that Tu is all too willing to resort to such methods. Others grumble that while his extreme parsimony has kept the nation financially ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 8 8 9 8 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 8 10 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 2 Knowledge 2 Social 3 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 10, Resolve 9 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 (Unwavering Nobility) ATTACKS ■ Valusian Longsword (M): Reach 2, 6 , 1H, Parrying, Piercing 1 ■ Sword (M): Reach 2, 4 , 1H, Parrying ■ “Know Your Place!” (T): Range C, 2 or 4 mental, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Trained Duelist: When fighting with a longsword, Ronaro uses his Coordination to determine his damage bonus, rather than his Brawn. ■ Favored Son: Ronaro uses his house’s influence and power to his advantage when in pursuit of a noble cause, enabling him to re-roll any d20 on a Social test that fails to report a success. He must accept the result of the second roll, however. DOOM SPENDS ■ Stay the Course: Ronaro may spend 1 Doom to earn 1 point of Morale Soak if being coerced to do anything that he finds dishonorable.

Encounters 75 stable, it is wearying to request funds for the most obvious of expenses. Tu is frequently accompanied by his wastrel nephew, the courtier Dondal (page 71), a youth blessed with silence and discretion. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 11 12 10 11 Agility Brawn Coordination 7 6 7 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat — Movement 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 2 Knowledge 3 Social 4 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 7, Resolve 12 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 1 ATTACKS ■ The Voice of the King (T): Range C, 4 mental, Piercing 1 SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Statesman: Tu is adept at all manner of statecraft, from management, diplomacy, to espionage. When making a Society test regarding affairs of state, he may re-roll any d20 that fail, but must accept the result of the second roll. ■ Incorruptible: Tu receives two automatic successes as if he rolled a 1 whenever making any Fortitude test to resist coercion or betray Valusia or its king. ■ Royal Signet Ring: Tu wears about his neck the royal signet ring of Valusia, unique in all the world. It is the authority of the king, in essence, its stamp allowing access to anywhere the king is permitted and vouchsafing for the integrity of the bearer. Few are aware of its location, and Tu is never parted from it. When displayed, the signet ring allows the bearer one automatic success on Social tests relating to statecraft. Tu, chief councilor, was a portly man of medium height and late middle life, who looked more like a merchant than a councilor. His hair was thin, his face lined, and on his brow rested a look of perpetual suspicion. Tu’s years and honors rested heavily on him. Originally of plebian birth, he had won his way by sheer power of craft and intrigue. He had seen three kings come and go before Kull, and the strain told on him. — “Swords of the Purple Kingdom” DOOM SPENDS ■ Secrets of the Castle: Tu is as familiar with the royal castle as he is his own body. He knows every hidden door, secret passage, and every concealed space. When in the castle, for 3 Doom Tu may immediately exit any combat, disappearing behind some concealed door, slamming it shut behind him. It will take foes at least a full round to discover and open the door, in which time he can make his escape, or find a squad of guards. For each additional Doom spent, he can take another through this escape route. ■ “Guards!”: When in the royal premises and dealing with those outside the court, Tu may spend 1 Doom to summon a Mob of three Minion guards (Conan corebook, page 317), 2 Doom for a Squad of three Minion guards led by a Toughened guard captain, or 3 Doom for two Squads of three Minions and one Toughened guard captain.

76 CHAPTER 5 PEOPLE OF RENOWN AND INFAMY The world is tired, enduring an almost palpable sense of resignation. Despite this, many heroes and villains have achieved notoriety, their names known across the Seven Empires and beyond, their deeds spoken of in whispers or celebrated in poesy. As depicted in the legends surrounding the conspiracies against Kull and Conan alike, events and personalities have a means of repeating themselves throughout history. The following non-player characters can be used by the gamemaster to populate adventures set in the Thurian Age, as well as using them as desired for adventures in the Hyborian Age. ALA THE SLAVE A slave girl belonging to Volmana, this tiny and beautiful young woman falls in love with Seno val Dor. Hopeless of having her heart’s desire met, she speaks with her King while Kull is in disguise. Later, she learns of her master’s treasonous intentions and sends word to Seno val Dor, who arrives just in time to save the Atlantean. She later marries her love when Kull alters the law to suit his purposes. ASCALANTE THE OUTLAW A rogue, fighter, and landless man, Ascalante spends his life seeking the next great purse, the next daring score, or the next willing lover to share a quickly-found bed. He is highly intelligent and thoroughly wicked, with a sardonic cynicism that leads him to humor even when others would frown on such levity. Despite his reputation, Ascalante displays the results of a keen and powerful discipline when on the battlefield. He moves only as one who regularly eschews the softening pleasures can move, and demonstrates a canny courage when all around him fall into panic. It is for this reason that Ridondo, Volmana, and Kaanuub approach him to participate in an attempted assassination and coup against King Kull. They reason, among all the fighting men and women of Thuria, Ascalante may be one of the few who could survive standing against the Atlantean. That reasoning proves false in the battle. Ascalante, the last survivor of twenty assassins, is slain by a blade thrown from Seno val Dor. Without that young noble’s assistance, who can say which warrior would have emerged victorious that night? DALGAR OF FARSUN An adventurer from distant Farsun, Dalgar wins his Valusian citizenship with the tip of his sword and the right coins placed in the right discrete palms. He is the figure of the noble warrior youth: slim yet powerful, clothed opulently but with utilitarian steel and mobility hidden beneath the gilding. It is little wonder he attracted the love of no lesser woman than Delcarta of House bora Ballin. Long loyal to King Kull and his court, Dalgar seals this alliance when he chances upon a sorely wounded Councilor Tu. The events following this meeting reveal and ultimately defeat a plot to murder and overthrow the barbarian ruler. He stands alone with his monarch against overwhelming odds of conspirators bent on sacrificing Delcartes and Kull until Brule’s Pictish cavalry arrives to save the day. He survives, despite grievous wounds, and is finally given leave to wed his love as a result of his heroism. THE DARK DRUID A serpent-man priest of Yig or some other pestilent god from the Outer Dark, this being lived for so many centuries it has forgotten its own name. While most of his kin perished in battle against Kull of Atlantis, the Dark Druid stole away

Encounters 77 from Valusia and hid in secret places, disguised as a human. For tens of thousands of years, it lived and traveled, finally settling in what would become the British Isles. There it built a new temple to its eldritch deity, and bred beings that resembled the fae of human mythology but for their evil bent and murderous impulses. From this temple, the Dark Druid praised the old gods and terrorized nearby villages until Cormac mac Art slew it in battle during a chance incursion into its lair. That timeline alone means the Druid died at the age of at least eighty thousand years, taking untold histories and secrets with it. DELCARDES A sensual and powerful member of Valusian nobility, Delcardes is famed primarily for her possession of a unique creature: a talking cat named Saremes, said to be a creature of uncommon intelligence and grace. A fixture of society in the City of Wonders, Delcardes’ manse is a destination for those who wish to speak with her cat, and she has leveraged this fame into considerable social power. Delcardes has recently been courted by a noble of Zarfhaana named Kulra Thoom. He has pursued her with zeal, and she has reciprocated his feelings. However, there is no hope for their union as he is a foreigner and therefore unable to marry into Valusia’s royal bloodlines. DELCARTES OF HOUSE BORA BALLIN A pink-cheeked, white-skinned aristocratic beauty and the favorite daughter of count Goron bora Ballin, this girl of just nineteen years is as fatale a femme as ever crossed the path of King Kull. She is coquettish and manipulative, skilled in offering the right combination of childlike wonder and mature sexuality to bend men of all ages to her will. If that fails, she does not hesitate to follow her own counsel, though her father and even kings bid her do otherwise. Such headstrong behavior leads her into a trap in the Accursed Gardens, where she flees to elope with her love Dalgar but runs afoul of an eldritch plot to simultaneously bring down King Kull and appease horrors from the Outer Dark. Imprisoned with her king, she helps him break his bonds and hew a bloody escape. Because of this service, she is permitted to wed Dalgar, and the two live their lives in Valusia. FELGAR This adventurer from Farsun causes an international incident by wooing and making off with the countess Lala-ah on the day of her wedding to Ka-yanna. This might have been yet another drama of the Thurian courts had not Felgar mocked Kull upon leaving Valusia. He fled the king, even across the river Stagus and into the realm known as the end-of-the-world, where Kull follows for a time. SAREMES THE CAT A cat of the Old Race, a species that lives for thousands of years, Saremes has outlived empires, seen generations come and go, and yet she persists, acclaimed for her wisdom. She has enticed kings and commoners alike and guested in the homes of the mightiest of monarchs, traveling the whole of the Seven Empires and gracing countless courts with her presence. She sometimes speaks cryptically, sometimes plainly, and knows far beyond any mortal being would know, a supernatural awareness of deeds past and future. She has long grey fur with a silken sheen and slanted, golden eyes, and is quite pleasant to be around. Saremes has recently allowed Delcardes, a noble woman of Valusia, to be her host, where she is granted the comfort and respect she is due. The cat is always attended by a veiled and mute manservant who sees to her every need ■ ATTRIBUTES: Awareness 12, Intelligence 14, Personality 12 ■ FIELDS OF EXPERTISE: Knowledge 5, Senses 3, Social 3 The Secret Voice Saremes is in truth no talking cat: though she is indeed ancient and quite wise, the cat does not speak. With the aid of a scholar named Kuthulos, Delcardes has concocted the ruse of Saremes as a mysterious figure of prophecy and knowledge, specifically to attract the attention of Kull, who shows no interest in women and is primitive enough to believe in talking animals. Her true goal is to sway the king to grant her permission to marry Kulra Thoom, a union forbidden by Valusian law. The subterfuge ends when Kull swims down to meet the people of the Forbidden Lake, discovering that the watery people know the cat well, and that it does not speak. The entire ruse was designed to end Kull’s life in the grim and dangerous waters of the Forbidden Lake. Upon Kull’s return, the cat’s servant is captured. He reveals that he was knocked unconscious some time ago, and that it was another who sent Kull to his apparent doom. The imposter reveals himself to be none other than the diabolical sorcerer, Thulsa Doom, who vows to destroy Kull at a time to come.

78 CHAPTER 5 GEN DULA, VERULIAN AMBASSADOR An ambassador from the Empire of Verulia, Gen Dula is known for keeping his word straight even in the labyrinthine tangle of the courts of the Thurian age. Because of this, he has the respect of the likes of King Kull and Brule the SpearSlayer, but the contempt of many of his contemporaries at court. The former appreciate his sense of honor, while the latter mock him as a naive simpleton. GOMLAH A distant cousin of King Borna, Gomlah is fat and soft, but as well-trained as any aristocrat. When Kull defeats Borna, Gomlah flees Valusia and shelters for a time in the Empire of Verulia. Later, he becomes the figurehead at the top of a conspiracy to overthrow King Kull. Though the conspiracy is not successful, Gomlah remains safely out of Kull’s reach, perhaps to try again with new supporters. COUNT GORON BORA BALLIN Father of Delcartes, Goron bora Ballin is a powerful Valusian aristocrat and staunch supporter of King Kull. He has a deserved reputation for a respectful and disciplined manner even under heavy duress, and for being among the most knowledgeable and canniest of players on the game board of Kull’s court. Although a traditionalist, he is capable of having his mind swayed by logic or feats of courage and might. GROGAR One of Brule’s Pict warriors and most trusted chiefs, Grogar is a skilled horseman and archer. He frequently serves as advisor and partner in revelry to Brule while they are in Valusia and is well-known to King Kull. Grogar disappears mysteriously during an evening’s high spirits, vanishing into a secret passage within Kull’s own palace. It is rumored agents of the serpent-people took him, but this is never proven. GURON OF THE EVERLASTING DARKNESS A gigantically tall and cadaverously thin tyrant, Guron ruled a mountainous stronghold within Valusia at the time Kull seizes the throne in the City of Wonders. Quite mad, he is the devoted High Priest of a being known as the Black Shadow or the Everlasting Darkness, a being of the Outer Dark. He rules his city with an iron fist and army of lesser priests, taking youths from the population to torture and murder in hideous rites in his temple. Ironically, he dies at the hands of such a captive, a young boy who calls on the power of the Great Scorpion as he awaits his fate in the dungeons. Kull never gets a chance to slay this terrible despot, as he arrives in the city shortly after the deed is done. KAANUUB, BARON OF BLAAL Among the most powerful aristocrats of Valusia, Kaanuub is the most likely to ascend to the throne should Kull die without a direct challenger responsible for his removal. As such, he can be found at the heart or as a figurehead for many plots and conspiracies against the barbarian King. He is neither brave nor intelligent, but possesses the low cunning of a rat or whipped dog. If this were all, he would be a typical entitled and overweight royal of the courts in the City of Wonders, but Kaanuub is the holder of a hideous secret. Ever searching for power and wealth beyond the grasp of his rivals, the Baron is in league with the serpent-people and acts as their thrall in that race’s machinations to regain power over mankind. He wields dark and ancient magics in his quest to overthrow Kull, though so far without success. Kaanuub’s most significant attempt at Kull’s life is in a pact with Ascalante, Ridondo, and Volmana. The four attempt to assassinate Kull in his bedroom with the help of several armed men. How exactly Kaanuub dies in the ensuing struggle is not recorded, but it is thought he did not survive the night. It could be, though, that he still hides in the shadows, plotting with serpent and man alike, to ascend to the throne after all. KARON THE FERRYMAN (NEMESIS) At the edge of the world forming the easternmost border of Grondar is the magnificent river called the Stagus, one of the longest and greatest waterways in the world. Beyond the river, on its opposite banks, is the World’s End. Standing alongside the river is a man of the Elder Race, a great and seemingly immortal being of considerable stature. He is Karon, Ferryman of the river Stagus, and he has served in this post for longer than any human can remember. Though his keen eyes pierce the mists and expanses beyond the unswimmable Stagus, Karon claims to know little of what manner of creatures inhabit that mysterious realm, and he has never ferried anyone from that side back to the land of the known. Karon is at least three centuries old, perhaps more, and tirelessly he has ferried kings, queens, generals, soldiers, and commoners alike across the Stagus River, none to return. He accepts no coin for this passage, as it is his sacred duty. In the millennia to come, he provides the spark of the legend of Charon, the legendary boatman of the River Styx, which borders Hell itself. Karon does not fight and will not aid any who seek it, other than to give them passage, and for these reasons no attributes are provided. If he is threatened, the gamemaster

Encounters 79 should determine what the outcome of such a confrontation would be, though it is entirely possible that, despite his antiquity, he is merely a mortal, and can be killed. KA-YANNA A powerful Valusian aristocrat, Ka-yanna is one of hundreds of spoiled, decadent royals from a line of hundreds of generations. He stands out only for his place in the story of his betrothal to Lala-ah, which is spoiled by Felgar. Ka-yanna joins Kull’s war party riding in pursuit of the eloping couple. He rides with the Atlantean for many weeks, but declines to follow him across the river Stagus. KING OF LEMURIA Known not by name outside the boundaries of his own land, this monarch sits the throne of an ancient and fabled kingdom. Not merely a king by the might of his hand and the line of his blood, he has also mastered a terrible repertoire of magic spells, dark rituals, and names of unearthly powers. He holds his throne by the masterful application of all three until Lemuria itself is no more. KULRA THOOM Monarch of the Empire of Zarfhana, Kulra Thoom is perhaps the most eligible bachelor in all of Thuria. He is handsome, powerful, and wealthy as a king...and either has no wife or too many wives to favor just one, depending who one asks. Kull would be his only rival for the title but for one small detail: the Atlantean is disinterested in matters of love. COUNTESS LALA-AH One of Fanara’s many countesses, Lala-ah falls in love with the fanaran adventurer Felgar, leaving her betrothed at the altar in favor of him. She flees Valusia with Felgar, leading King Kull and his armies on a long chase across the Thurian continent. Her last known whereabouts are at the end of the world, across the river Stagus, where she rides with her love. MANARO A chief among Bule the Spear-Slayer’s Pict warriors, Manaro is a fixture in the palace of Valusia and court of King Kull. He is an expert warrior and renowned drinker, holding the respect of ruler and common soldier alike for both. He is killed in the Jeweled Room of Kull’s palace during the taking of Chief Grogar. PRINCE MANDARA A young aristocrat born well after his crown brothers, Prince Manda spends his time in Valusia pursuing what pleasures his father’s purse can bring him. He’s known to frequent the drug and flesh pits of whatever city he finds himself in, but is equally likely to appear, well-dressed and perfumed, for any formal court function that offers entertainment. He is an unreliable friend, but also an unintimidating enemy. RIDONDO (TOUGHENED) So-called “first minstrel of Valusia,” Ridondo is famed throughout the City of Wonders, the emotive beauty of his verses coaxing tears even from the eyes of its barbarian king. A passionate firebrand in whose own eyes gleam the spark of madness, Ridondo clads himself in jester’s motely, and sings songs to the royal court as readily as the lowest alehouse or brothel. When Borna was king, Ridondo sang of Borna’s tyranny, and he welcomed the novelty of a barbarian king. Over the years, he often performed before the court and the Topaz Throne, and Kull favored him above all other minstrels and poets. However, as is often with idealists, Ridondo’s love of Kull eventually turned to resentment, and his verses focused on Kull’s tyranny, idealizing Borna’s reign in its absence, turning a forgetful eye towards the late king’s atrocities. He used his influence to turn the common folk against Kull and fell in with a group of conspirators with assassination of the king as their goal. Ridondo met his fate upon Kull’s sword, though the king was loathe to end the source of such immortal verse. He is most famous for his poem “The Lament for the King” (see page 80), which was to be his last. SENO VAL DOR This young noble earns an early reputation as a duelist and swordsman, if also a bit of a scuffler and ne’er-do-well when not engaged in deadly battle. Despite his lofty station, he falls in love with the slave girl Ala. Though his plea to King Kull to allow their forbidden wedding goes unheeded, he later saves Kull from assassins. After this, he is granted permission to free and marry his love. An ancient man stood upon the bank and a large, flat boat floated on the sullen surface of the water. The man was aged, but mightily built, as huge as Kull himself. He was clad only in ragged garments, seemingly as ancient as himself, but there was something kingly and awe-inspiring about the man. His snowy hair fell to his shoulders and his huge white beard, wild and unkempt, came almost to his waist. From beneath white, lowering brows, great luminous eyes blazed, undimmed by age. “Stranger, who have the bearing of a king,” said he to Kull in a great deep resonant voice, “would ye cross the river?” — Untitled Fragment

80 CHAPTER 5 TALIGARO THE POET Among the more famous of the court poets of Valusia, Taligaro enjoyed a reputation for skill with wordplay to rival even that of Ronaro. He, however, kept most of his writings off such dangerous topics as the indolence of sitting kings and the preferability of kings past, rather putting pen to ink for verses about pleasure, beauty, and plenty. THULSA DOOM (NEMESIS) The greatest sorcerer of the Thurian Age and Kull’s sworn nemesis, the necromancer Thulsa Doom plagued Kull’s reign from its bloody beginning to its end. Centuries old and outlasting entire dynasties, Thulsa Doom was Borna’s nemesis, and Borna’s predecessor before, but despite the baleful threat Doom presents, few living beings have ever beheld him in the flesh. The terrible truth is that should any encounter him, there is little flesh to be seen, as Thulsa Doom’s necromancy is such that he has outlived his mortal flesh, and is a lich, his mortal flesh long having sloughed away from his body, his living skeleton driven by powerful, hateful sorcery. Despite the enmity between Thulsa Doom and Kull, the necromancer is loath to act directly against the barbarian king, preferring to destroy him through schemes and proxies, rather than straight confrontation. Scholars of the age whisper that Thulsa Doom has heard tell of a prophecy that he will die at Kull’s hand, and thus he wishes to avoid any encounter where that outcome becomes a possibility. His whereabouts are unknown, as the skeletal necromancer keeps no fixed abode and instead skulks in secrecy, moving from plot to plot as need be, seeking a means by which his ultimate goal can be achieved, the fall of Valusia and in turn the remainder of the Seven Empires. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 10 11 11 7 Agility Brawn Coordination 9 7 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 1 Movement 1 Fortitude — Senses 2 Knowledge 2 Social 3 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 7, Resolve 7 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage — ATTACKS ■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1, Parrying, Thrown, Unforgiving 1 ■ Fiery Declaration (T): Range C, 4 mental, Stun, Vicious 1 SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ First Minstrel of the Court: As the most acclaimed minstrel in the City of Wonders and beyond, Ridondo has allies across the city, from the most wretched of alehouses to the very Topaz Throne itself. Any Social tests made with those who know of him are reduced by one step. DOOM SPENDS ■ Stirring Speech: A well-studied poet with a deep repertoire, Ridondo can find a suitable reference for any occasion. As a Minor Action he may quote from one of his own verses or the works of others to bolster any activity. This lets any allies spend 1 Doom to re-roll a d20 that failed to earn a success. ■ Heroic Rally: Ridondo can stir those around him to greater action, spending 3 Doom to give all allies within Medium Range Courage Soak 1 and adding +1d20 to any action they perform according to his wishes. If he uses this Doom spend on a Mob or Squad, they gain a single +1d20 for the group. “THE LAMENT FOR THE KING” Aye, doth King Kull the Conqueror sit And still slay ‘pon the throne of our land Aye doth fickle Valusia faun On a usurper so cruel and uncivilized. Forgetst we the valor and mercy of Borna? While his bones and our people both rot in true kind? Forgetst we the pride of our people and fathers? While vultures make feast of our proud nation’s ways? Aye it is time to remember this day And tonight we remember a true king Oh, with the cries of rebellion reclaiming The seat for those of Valusian blood! Restore to the throne one of kindness and valor And gather together with those who would join Restore to the law the lives of our people And sharpen your knives for together as one! Even now some swear fealty to the ways of Valusia One night some will join to dance down a king And morning will ring with the chants of a people Again liberated from the foreigner’s chain!

Encounters 81 TUZUN THUNE (NEMESIS) Dwelling in the House of a Thousand Mirrors on the shore of the Lake of Visions, Tuzun Thune is ancient, well versed in sorcery that was old when Valusia was but a notion of civilization. He is of the Elder Race, a people whose secrets are lost to time. Many have come to Tuzun Thune’s manse in search of wisdom or counsel, which he provides often in the form of riddles or enigmatic statements, preferring instead to direct any seekers to gaze into the many mirrors that give his home its name. Each of these panes of silvered glass has been wrought with an enchantment that allows it to view something different; whether a vision of the distant past, a sight of an unimaginably far-off future, places near and impossibly far away, or even reflections that reveal more about their subject than any mortal mirror can. Tuzun Thune’s daughter, Zebele, is a woman of surpassing beauty, with golden hair and slanted, violet eyes. She often does his bidding, and he has sent her to infiltrate the households of those he wishes to entice into his mirror world. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 13 14 12 14 Agility Brawn Coordination 9 9 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 1 Movement 1 Fortitude 4 Senses 3 Knowledge 5 Social 3 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 13, Resolve 18 ■ Soak: Armor 9 (see below), Courage 4 ATTACKS ■ Unholy Touch (M): Reach 1, 4 , Fearsome, Stun ■ Eyes of Burning Fire (T): Range C, 8 mental, Intense SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Deathless: Thulsa Doom is no longer mortal and can ignore up to his Brawn in damage. ■ Dread Creature 5 ■ Fear 1 ■ Inured to Cold, Disease, Fear, Pain, and Poison ■ Mimic: Thulsa Doom can use his Social Field of Expertise to mimic voices, a helpful disguise when his stark, fleshless features are not apparent. ■ Sorcerer: A well-trained sorcerer, Thulsa Doom has a vast repertoire of spells, and can use all petty magics and counter magic by spending Doom. He commonly uses the spells Enslave, Haunt the Mind, and Summon a Horror to deal with his immediate foes. He has paid for these spells with Resolve long ago, and regained it through means unknowable. DOOM SPENDS ■ Fated: None but Thulsa Doom know that he is fated to die at the hands of Kull, and thus he is driven to slay the barbarian king before such an event comes to pass. He can spend 1–3 Doom to effect a miraculous escape from any other fate that might slay him, with the gamemaster determining the price. ■ Long Past Humanity: When casting a spell Thulsa Doom can spend 1 Doom to reduce its Resolve cost by 2. ■ Unhindered: Thulsa Doom can spend 1 Doom per person to shrug off anyone who attempts to hold or otherwise confine him, even if shackled.

82 CHAPTER 5 As with most who made attempts on Kull’s life, Tuzun Thune met his fate at the end of Brule’s spear. His mansion was sealed, his corpse left where it fell. VOLMANA, COUNT OF KARABAN A broad-shouldered, long-armed dwarf of a man, Volmana numbers among those nobles who lost station when Kull rose to the throne. He leads an assassination attempt, along with Ascalante, Ridondo, Gromel, and Kaanuub in an attempt to restore his old levels of power, wealth, and influence. He dies in the assassination attempt, his entire left side caved in by Kull’s axe. ZARETA THE SINGER From the darkest pleasure pit to the most opulent royal court, beautiful singers earn their keep by putting song to speech. In the tens of millennia of the Thurian age, this art reached its true zenith, and Zareta is among those at the top of even that lofty height. She is among those known to King Kull and Brule the Spear-Slayer by name, and commands a true fortune for her performances. PICTS Though Kaa-u, the Isles of the Picts, are several days’ sailing away from the shores of the Thurian continent, Picts are nonetheless numerous in Valusia, Farsun, and Verulia. Early attempts by Valusia at enslaving them were met with such resistance that no further attempts were made. In the centuries since, the Picts have earned considerable rights within the Seven Empires, hired in great number as mercenaries to supplant the dwindling forces of the various kingdoms, especially Valusia, where the Pictish cavalry is a dominant force within their armies. The following figures are of considerable power and influence in Pictland as well as on the continent. Brule is described on page 70: though he commands over a hundred Pictish warriors and his own galley, he is still counted as amongst the closest and most trusted member of Kull’s court. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 12 14 12 12 Agility Brawn Coordination 8 6 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat — Movement — Fortitude 2 Senses 2 Knowledge 4 Social 1 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 8, Resolve 14 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 2 ATTACKS ■ Veil of Antiquity (T): Range C, 5 mental, Area, Stun SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Manse of Mirrors: If surrounded by his mirrors, Tuzun Thune adds +1 to mental damage when making a Display or Threaten attack. ■ Mesmerism: Tuzun Thune is a talented mesmerist, able to beguile even the most hostile foes into a state he can exploit with his mirrors. In conversation, he may attempt a Threaten Attack that is undetectable, using his Social Field of Expertise in a Struggle against the intended target’s Discipline. If the defender is successful, they will be unaffected, while if unsuccessful, they will suffer Tuzun Thune’s mental damage, but will not become aware of this loss until it becomes relevant. This attack may cause Trauma. DOOM SPENDS ■ Elder Sorcery: Tuzun Thune is an adept sorcerer. He specializes in enchantment of mirror wrighting, but nonetheless he knows many spells and petty enchantments. He can spend Doom for these as desired by the gamemaster. ■ Mirrors are the World: Tuzun Thune has a great many mirrors prepared, with many different versions of each spell’s alternative effects or Momentum spends wrought into them. Primarily, these are spells such as Astral Wanderings, Atavistic Voyage, Enslave, and Haunt the Mind. When dealing with a visitor, he may produce one of these mirrors, the Doom cost reduced by 1. “Tuzun Thune,” he repeated. “Who is he?” “A wizard of the Elder Race. He lives here, in Valusia, by the Lake of Visions in the House of a Thousand Mirrors. All things are known to him, lord king; he speaks with the dead and holds converse with the demons of the Lost Lands.” — “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune”

Encounters 83 GONAR THE WIZARD A Pictish shaman, Gonar the Wizard could have done well in more civilized lands and times as a confidence trickster. It is not that he doesn’t believe in the magic he can wield or the gods he prays to. Rather, he is a master showman. To his savage countrymen, he dresses his powers in ritual and brutishness to drum up confidence, bloodlust, and loyalty. Yet among sophisticated folk, he is the picture of restraint and deep thought. Completely pragmatic, Gonar rejects all things that are not real. No could-haves, would-haves, should-haves, or even once-weres for Gonar. He lives in the moment and chases only what the reality of the present permits. Gonar is not from the Thurian Age at all but visits that epoch in dreams. He might appear to adventurers in their sleep as a guide or oracle, or simply an observer. Perhaps the wizard’s appearance alone sets seemingly inevitable events in motion, with influence that echoes through time even into the modern age. He is described fully in Conan the Scout. AMBASSADOR KA-NU (NEMESIS) To meet the ambassador from the Picts one might assume a ruse, for the impish, aged man is like no other Pict; impudent and sagacious, cunning in the ways of statecraft and at the same time seeming to be wholly given to worldly comforts such as female companionship, rich food, and strong drink. Despite his world-wisdom, Ka-nu (sometimes called Kananu) is an idealist, envisioning an age for humankind where warfare is a thing of the past, where strife is set aside in favor of humankind living in peace and prosperity. In his wisdom, he realizes that for this to come to pass humankind must shed the invisible chains of its secret oppressors, the serpent-folk. KING NIAL OF THE TATHELI (NEMESIS) Regarded as the highest of the Pictish kings (of which there are many), Nial holds his rule loosely, more a first among equals than a true monarch. He does not levy or tax his subjects save for those under his immediate protection and allows each of the other Pictish tribes to control their own fates. Ruling from the island of Tathel, Nial’s primary role is peacemaker and arbitrator, determining settlements when a war between Picts has been resolved. The over-king is wise enough to recognize that if he were to exert his authority, it ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 12 12 13 11 Agility Brawn Coordination 7 7 8 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 1 Movement 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 4 Knowledge 3 Social 3 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 8, Resolve 12 ■ Soak: Armor —, Courage 2 ATTACKS ■ Dagger (M): Reach 1, 3 , 1H, Hidden 1, Improvised, Unforgiving 1 ■ Commanding Mien (T): Range 2, 4 mental, Area SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ The Hosts of Pictdom: Though he commands few Picts other than those in his guard (see below), he can send a message to his people and within days raise a small army. ■ The Secret History: A seasoned diplomat and spymaster, Ka-nu knows many secrets that would seem impossible for one in his possession to possess. Given a day, he can learn almost anything learnable about a desired subject, using his Social Field of Expertise. DOOM SPENDS ■ Personal Guard: When encountered in Valusia in his embassy, Ka-nu can spend X Doom to summon X Pictish guards, each equivalent to a Pictish cavalry rider (see page 64). Ancient was Ka-nu and wise in statecraft, grown old in the game. There was no elemental hatred in the eyes that looked at Kull appraisingly; no tribal traditions hindered his judgments. Long associations with the statesmen of the civilized nations had swept away such cobwebs. Not “Who and what is this man?” was the question ever foremost in Ka-nu’s mind, but “Can I use this man, and how?” Tribal prejudices he used only to further his own schemes. — “The Shadow Kingdom”

84 CHAPTER 5 would result in all-out war between the various Pict tribes, and thus he rules through softer means. However, should any threaten the Pictish Islands or any of the tribes under his protection, he may summon the entirety of the Pictish people to war. SERPENT MEN In this age, the serpent men are an ancient species, declining in numbers and influence. However, they have not yet been reduced to the isolated individuals found in later eras. Instead, they still possess moderate numbers, a small but tightly knit society, and a burning drive to regain what they have lost - dominion over humanity. The serpent men once openly ruled Thuria’s human inhabitants, and far more recently they ruled covertly, using inherent magic to take on the appearance of human rulers that they then secretly killed. The serpent men are creatures of deception, and their greatest deception is spreading the lie that their kind is either extinct or never existed at all. In the Seven Empires, most masquerade as priests, acolytes, and temple guards who seek to attract human followers to their Temple of the Serpent. One of the most widespread precepts of this faith is that speaking of the ancient ‘snakes that speak’ is accursed and the penalty for doing so is death, a belief that helps keep their presence both unknown and unknowable. SERPENT SORCERER PRIEST (NEMESIS) These brilliant inhuman creatures are among the best sorcerers of the Thurian Age, combining ancient knowledge with timeless enchantments in order to secretly rule humans. In the Seven Empires, these creatures are priests of the Temple of the Serpent. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 11 (2) 10 12 (2) 10 Agility Brawn Coordination 9 14 7 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 1 Movement 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 3 Knowledge 3 Social 3 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 15, Resolve 11 ■ Soak: Armor 2 (alchemically treated robes), Courage 4 ATTACKS ■ Unearthly Blades (M): Reach 2, 8 , VIcious 1 ■ Envenomed Bite (M): Reach 1, 4 Persistent 4 ■ HIssing DIsplay (T): Range M, 8 mental SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Serpent Man: Serpent men sorcerers also possess the same five special abilities: Fear 1, Inhuman Awareness 2, Inhuman Personality 2, Venom, and Weakness (see above). ■ Sorcery: All serpents that speak can fling a web of sorcery about their faces, as an actor dons a mask, so that they resemble anyone they wish to. This works in much the same way as Form of a Beast. This mask only falls upon their death or when they wish it to and is innate to all serpent men. Serpent sorcerers also usually know between three and five spells. Enslave is especially common and is often used to render humans senseless so that one of the snakes that speaks can temporarily take their place. DOOM SPENDS ■ Ophidian Sorcerer: Like serpent soldiers, they also possess the Ghostly Slave and Alchemical Weapons Doom spends (see page 85). SERPENT SOLDIER (TOUGHENED OR NEMESIS) Many humans who know of their kind assume all serpent men are powerful sorcerers who perform potent spells. However, some are deadly warriors or subtle assassins who prefer to face their foes with blades rather than spells. These creatures regularly assume the guise of human soldiers, With Gandaro of the Spear, I harried the Valusian coasts when I was younger than you, Kull. Aye, we carried the torch and the sword deep into the empire. Five hundred men we were, of all the coast tribes of Atlantis. Four of us returned! Outside the village of Hawks, which we burned and sacked, the van of the Black Squadrons smote us. Hai, there the spears drank and the swords were eased of thirst! We slew and they slew, but when the thunder of battle was stilled, four of us escaped from the field, and all of us sore wounded.” — “Exile of Atlantis”

Encounters 85 bodyguards, or mercenaries, so that they can better infiltrate human courts or military camps and then attempt to influence those around them or simply cut down important figures who stand in their way. Some of the most skilled have even managed to infiltrate Valusia’s fearsome royal bodyguard, the Red Slayers. These creatures are no match for the finest human warriors but can easily slay those who expect a friend or ally and instead find themselves alone with a merciless serpent person who has taken another’s face. ATTRIBUTES Awareness Intelligence Personality Willpower 11(2) 9 10(2) 10 Agility Brawn Coordination 10 14 9 FIELDS OF EXPERTISE Combat 2 Movement 1 Fortitude 1 Senses 4 Knowledge 1 Social 2 STRESS AND SOAK ■ Stress: Vigor 14 (15 Nemesis), Resolve 10 (11 Nemesis) ■ Soak: Armor 3 (Red Slayer Armor), Courage 4 ATTACKS ■ Broadsword (Melee): Reach 2, 9 , Unbalanced, Parrying ■ Envenomed Bite (Melee): Reach 1, 6 , Persistent 4 ■ Hissing Display (Threaten): Range M, 8 mental SPECIAL ABILITIES ■ Fear 1 ■ Inhuman Awareness 2: Serpent men identify each other through scent and have a strong ophidian scent when not disguised. Although they lack external ears, their hearing is extremely acute, sensing vibrations through their inner ears and bodily bones. A snake-that-speaks always hears a person approaching before it sees the person. These same finely tuned senses allow them to determine mood and intent of a person near them. ■ Inhuman Personality 2 ■ Sorcery: All serpents that speak can fling a web of sorcery about their faces, as an actor dons a mask, so that they resemble anyone they wish to. This works in much the same way as the Form of a Beast spell (Conan corebook, pages 179–181). This mask only falls upon their death or when they wish it to. ■ Venom: If a serpent man’s bite inflicts a wound it numbs the location with a paralysing venom. Any tests made using the numbed location are at two steps of Difficulty higher than normal. If the location is the torso or head, all tests are affected. As a Standard Action, a victim can make a Daunting (D3) Resistance test to shrug off this effect. A minimum of one such test must be made every day. Failure causes the character to suffer a Wound as the numbness begins to affect the rest of the body. Those with the Healing skill can make a similar test at the same Difficulty to assist in overcoming this venom. ■ Weakness: The phrase “Ka nama kaa lajerama!” cannot be said by serpents-that-speak, and it undoes the magic of their sorcery, immediately ending any spell effect currently active, including their illusory masks. DOOM SPENDS ■ Ghostly Slave: Someone slain by a serpent man suffers a horrid fate if the gamemaster spends 1 Doom as the person dies: their ghost becomes the slave of the serpent man, doing their bidding for the rest of eternity – or until the serpent man is killed. These ghosts are called ‘Shadows of the Lost’ and are equivalent to normal ghosts (Conan corebook, page 337). ■ Alchemical Weapons: Serpent men excel at all manner of alchemy and even warriors of this species often carry a host of alchemical petty enchantments, as well as a host of other small tricks and sleights. A serpent person can spend Doom equal to the Difficulty of manufacturing the item to have a desired item ready for use. These items are described in Chapter 7: Sorcery of the Conan corebook. Serpent men usually carry herbal or alchemical draughts or powders that induce sleep or forgetfulness, allowing them to take someone’s form while their target is incapacitated, and then their target awakens, having no knowledge that anything unusual occurred.

CHAPTER 6 THE THURIAN AGE Player characters adventuring in the Thurian Age of Kull inhabit a world of faded glories, of gradual decay, of strange and subtle magics which aren’t as obviously evil as those wielded by sorcerers in the later epoch known as the Hyborian Age. Figures from the past and from myth are far more active in this time and are less likely to be revealed as charlatans than those who bedevil Conan in his own adventures. As with Conan and the Hyborian Age, the best means of understanding the Thurian Age is to view it through the lens of its most known figure, King Kull of Valusia, exile of Atlantis. Though Kull and Conan are dim ancestors and seemingly cut from the same cloth, the same barbarian blood running through their veins, their minds are very different and their attitudes utterly unlike. Though Kull’s history prior to ascending the throne is mostly unknown, the result of his exploits is a figure of contemplation and intellectual curiosity, introspection broken by sometimes violent interludes of rash action. At times he is surprisingly worldly, but at others his emotions display an almost elemental simplicity. It is not that Kull does not pursue action and violence with all the joy and lethality of Conan, it’s merely that Kull is more likely to ponder the meaning of such actions. Kull’s era reflects this interiority, this self-consciousness, and any adventures set in the Thurian Age are advised to do the same. This section provides some ideas of how the gamemaster can make adventures set in the age of Kull memorably distinct from those set in the later age of Conan. THE NATURE OF THE QUEST Adventuring in the Thurian Age is perhaps a more complex question than it might immediately appear. Whereas the goals of a Conan adventure are clear, direct, and usually feature “surviving and escaping with the gold” or “defeating an evil sorcerer and rescuing a princess,” these adventures won’t always be applicable within the Thurian Age. As its exemplar, Kull isn’t only concerned with satiating one form of lust or another. He is also interested in determining the nature of his own existence, the purpose of his own life. When Kull, Brule, and the Red Slayers ride beyond the Edge of the World and into the Unknown Lands beyond, it is not simply in pursuit of a rude nobleman. An existential question is being proposed here. When Kull declares from his saddle, “Ye are Men!” he is not specifying gender, but is instead praising his companions for their bravery, for their willingness to pursue answers to the imponderable questions of life. Thurian Age adventures can incorporate these kind of questions into their construction: if the player characters are confronted by the remnants of an ancient and forgotten kingdom, a kingdom where they encounter strange half-ape creatures who seem vaguely, horribly familiar to them, what will they do? What does their discovery of these creatures tell them about mankind’s real heritage? How do they react to the fact that they are the ancestors of these bestial things? Are they, in truth, better or more civilized than these poor beings? By what right do the player characters loot this place? And, most importantly, “Yes,” said Kull. “Yet is it not a pity that the beauty and glory of men should fade like smoke on a summer sea?” — Kull, “The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune”

88 CHAPTER 6 just who formed these misshapen creatures and where are they now? Are those entities which crafted the origins of mankind waiting to be found and confronted? In a Hyborian Age adventure, the player characters might apprehend vague glimpses of these vast cosmic truths, but in the Thurian Age, the exposure to such mind-blasting realities is much more prolonged and much more central to the plot. Player characters should periodically have their eyes opened to the strange wonders of the universe and their goal in an adventure should reflect this. Player characters in this period should be searching for more than simply gold and fame — they should be seeking truth, knowledge, and even enlightenment. That’s not to say they don’t also seek adventure and glory, but that there is a real balance to be struck. Those who roam the antediluvian plains of Atlantis and probe the hidden corners of fading Valusia seek something more, something beyond. THE MANY TYPES OF ADVENTURE Just as the adventurers in this bygone age seek something more than Gold and Renown, the style of adventures should reflect this. Conan thrives on frenetic combat, chase sequences, heists, and vast battles. The stories of Kull feature all these things, but are stranger, more dreamlike affairs. Adventures should also be so diverse, combining elements of simple material reward and peril with metaphysical or philosophical riddles and mysteries to ponder. Somber investigations into the murder of a Pictish diplomat can morph into oneiric journeys on the pleasure yacht of a master artisan voyaging to an island which was called out of the ocean by a sorcerous poem. Adventures in the age of Kull should rarely be one thing. They can shift and mutate and become something quite different, a seeming instability to evoke the malleability of reality in Kull’s Valusia. This is a world in which a conversation with an ancient cat can send the king of the oldest and mightiest empire on earth to a potential watery grave, only for that king to meet a brother monarch in that subaquatic world, hidden from the surface since the beginning of time, then only to learn that while the cat is known of old to these water-dwelling folk, it can neither speak nor has anything to do with the original mission. The best way to achieve this dream-logic is to ensure that adventures are unfixed, capable of being an investigation one minute, a brutal combat the next, before culminating in an exploration of a dungeon, beneath a glorious palace, in which the walls rotate without warning, assuming new and treacherous geometries. Seeming enemies might suddenly offer parley and insights, even courtesies, while rivalries might be born of the strangest and most contrived situations. A transparently false situation might be given the gravest weight and attention, while aspects of life and the world which are seemingly without guile become suspicious and untrustworthy. While traditional Conan games can do this as well, in Kull’s world, the edges can be sharper, the transitions more sudden and more jolting, and the clues which indicate such sudden jarring alterations less obvious. The logic of plot can be less clear, the sequence of cause and effect can be comprehensively inverted or simply forgotten about. Similarly, the pacing can evoke this sort of difference. Conan gameplay advice espouses the idea of skipping to the exciting parts, of eliminating the process of getting from one place to another. This is doubly true for games of Kull, but the gamemaster should feel empowered to draw attention to these elisions of time and activity; things fall away, fall apart, and reassemble themselves in strange new shapes and events. A DIFFERENT, TERRIBLE DOOM In Conan, the Doom mechanic is used to escalate tension, to emphasize the deadly uncertainty of the Hyborian Age and the threat which the flora and fauna of the terrain always pose. The gamemaster can use Doom in this fashion in Thurian Age games, or can approach things differently, using Doom not to increase the danger confronting the player characters but to emphasize the strangeness of the world around them. Rather than increasing the strength of a significant foe, or the numbers in which they attack, the gamemaster could spend Doom to have a mirror in the room where the battle takes place begin whispering lines from an ancient rhyme or prophecy to the characters. The mechanical effects of this sort of manipulation is up to the gamemaster to define, though some potential suggestions are provided below. Doom can be used to heighten the atmosphere of a scene, manipulating player character emotions as much as their physical reactions. Strange music can drift from between the mortared stones of the floor; illusory figures clad in antiquated vestments can proceed through the middle of a scene. They do not need to interact with the action going on at all, instead they The Thurian civilization was crumbling; their armies were composed largely of barbarian mercenaries. Picts, Atlanteans and Lemurians were their generals, their statesmen, often their kings. Of the bickerings of the kingdoms, and the wars between Valusia and Commoria, as well as the conquests by which the Atlanteans founded a kingdom on the mainland, there were more legends than accurate history. —“The Hyborian Age”

The Thurian Age 89 can serve only to shift attention from the villains which the player characters are combatting — giving them a chance to escape and plot their next move. Doom is a flexible resource and the rich, decadent ambience of Kull stories can be evoked through clever use of it. These moments should be used sparingly, of course, but, at the right moments, these peculiar touches can lend the right air of strangeness, of dissociation, of a world much stranger than our own. AMBIGUITY OF ASPECT Whether time’s dilation has distorted reality, or the entropic shroud that hangs over the entire Thurian Age, the material world is not as stable, not as real, as it will become in the Hyborian era. Whereas Conan’s world is one of earthy reality, Kull’s might be better described as weird, in the fuller and older sense of the term. This is especially true when one considers the kind of people Kull spends his time with and amongst. While his closest friend, Brule, is a barbarian like Conan and Kull himself, there are many stranger men and women populating the court of Valusia and the lands beyond. Take Delcardes — a seductress, a socialite and a masterful manipulator, quite willing to toy with a king for her own ends. The fact that she ultimately turns out to be a pawn in a still greater scheme does not hide the fact that, for some time, it is uncertain whether she is attempting to send Kull to his death or not. The same is true of the great sage and scholar, Kuthulos. While it transpires that he had been replaced by Thulsa Doom, there is little surprise or consternation that Kuthulos might have betrayed Kull to his potential death. Ambiguity is the key here; characters should have motives which aren’t immediately apparent, plans which cannot be quickly divined, and their allegiance shouldn’t be obvious or beyond question. Even Ka-nu, the Pictish ambassador who first introduces Brule and Kull cannot be trusted straightaway. He manipulates Kull for his own purposes, while also helping him. The player characters should always keep guessing as to the nature of what is real and what is not, uncertain who to trust and who to condemn. Does a serpent-man hide behind the fleshy mask of this unctuous courtier? Or is it the innocuous, friendly servant who has brought forth water and healing salves when required whose visage conceals the serpent’s fangs? Where Conan deals in certainties, Kull deals in its opposite. The player characters should only be able to trust each other completely; beyond the confines of the party, the world is unsafe and uncertain. THE NATURE OF TIME If an overriding aspect Conan adventures concerns the clash of barbarism and civilization, then Kull’s adventures are about the unerring, inescapable effects of time. The unavoidable consequences of the passage of time are present in every facet of Kull’s world. From the kingdom which he rules over, Valusia, which was once so much greater than it is now, to the peculiar vestigial land beneath the lake, the ancient cat of Delcardes, the list goes on. All is faded, eroded, less glorious than it once was. Most bleakly of all, this process is irreversible. Kull may have slowed the decay of Valusia, but its fall is inevitable, as is the end of the era itself, the waters of the world poised to wash the Thurian Age away entirely. ALTERNATE DOOM SPENDS Doom Cost Possible Dreamlike Events Mechanical Effect 1 Music suddenly fills the air; an odor of rich spice drifts up from the corpse of a slaughtered guard; blood spilled from a serpent-man’s wound becomes a crystal fountain; the walls themselves seem to exhale heavily as though with regret. For the first turn after the event occurs, those player characters in the same Zone can only carry out a single Full Action, as opposed to a Full Action and a Quick Action. 2 Mirrors begin to scream with rage and anger; the trees begin to writhe and stretch upwards from beneath the ground with their roots; a rain of soft golden shards begins to fall. For the next combat round, all tests are made at one greater step of Difficulty: i.e., a Challenging [D2] test becomes Daunting [D3] instead. 3+ A parade of dismal, translucent phantoms march, unheeding, through the center of the room; an eldritch rent in the fabric of space begins to open; time itself begins to drain from the arena of combat, movements become delayed by minutes. The gamemaster can use such events to have a major villain escape; move the player characters to a new location or remove an empty zone entirely from a scene. This kind of effect can only be used once per combat.

90 CHAPTER 6 Adventures which reflect this looming finality enables the player characters to truly inhabit the Thurian Age. When describing a setting in which the player characters find themselves, the gamemaster is encouraged to secrete a few memento mori in amongst the opulence; dusty skulls sway on fine silver chains adorned with gems; old tablets whose languages have been long since forgotten adorn sagging shelves. The hands of a gracious Valusian courtier bidding welcome to his palace do not match the youthfulness of his face. The treasures of this age, though still gleaming, are traced with verdigris and the sun is always on the verge of setting. The world is approaching a cataclysm, its greatest epoch is behind it. What is to come is barbarism and darkness. This does not mean that the actions of the player characters should be treated as futile — but that even in their greatest success, the feeling that it might not be enough to hold back the tide for much longer should recur. Even Kull, as indomitable and resourceful as he surely is, ultimately chooses to ride into the unknown, ride over the edge of the world. And thus, play in the Thurian Age is not the same as in the Hyborian Age; here, the end is fixed. The Hyborian Age, though it ends in violence and warfare, is still the precursor to this world’s history, whereas the epoch of Kull is one that has been wiped clean from human memory. Even those races that survive, through some fashion, descend into bestial primitivism before regaining a semblance of humankind, their ancestral memory all but expunged. But there is still heroism in raging against the dwindling light. Keeping this form of heroism, unflagging courage in the face of the oldest and greatest of all enemies, Death itself, at the center of Thurian Age games will ensure they resound with the proper defiant spirit as befits its most famous inhabitant, Kull of Atlantis! TIME AND AGAIN Some player groups may balk at such an apparently bleak tone to their games. There are ways around this, though, the gamemaster may point out that such an approach is key to achieving the right atmosphere. The adventure could borrow from “Kings of the Night”, only in reverse, with the player characters plunged backwards in time from the Hyborian Age to assist Kull and Brule in some quest. Alternatively, the same effect could be gained from having the actions of the player characters avert the Cataclysm and resulting in a radically different Hyborian Age…one in which the Valusian Empire continues to rule supreme, perhaps with an immortal and impossibly wizened Kull still on the throne, with Thulsa Doom at his side as his trusted advisor.

The Thurian Age 91 THE END OF THE THURIAN AGE Then the Cataclysm rocked the world. Atlantis and Lemuria sank, and the Pictish Islands were heaved up to form the mountain peaks of a new continent. Sections of the Thurian Continent vanished under the waves, or sinking, formed great inland lakes and seas. Volcanoes broke forth and terrific earthquakes shook down the shining cities of the empires. Whole nations were blotted out. — “The Hyborian Age” No event more clearly marks the end of the Thurian Age and the Hyborian than the Cataclysm, the immense worldwide combination of flood and geologic upheaval that transformed the world, flooding much of it entirely, turning mountaintops into islands and deserts into oceans. The nations that made up the Seven Empires were wiped out entirely, and only the barbaric Picts, Atlanteans, and strange Lemurians survived in any great number, while other peoples were lost entirely, vanished beneath the waves. This apocalyptic event occurred hundreds, if not thousands, of years after Kull’s reign, but as with all vast climate and geologic changes, such a dramatic occurrence likely came with ample foreshadowing. When running campaigns or short games set in Kull’s world, the gamemaster should emphasize the feeling that this is the end of the Thurian Age, an unconscious but undeniable sense that time is running out. This can be manifest in unnatural storms that last for far longer than seems normal, other freakish weather events, rumbling and minor earthquakes, as well as the human element, such as refugees from catastrophic weather conditions on the coast or even inland. Though the Hyborian Age has its own end ahead of it, the rise of the Picts and upheavals that will change all the landscape are centuries off, with no one aware of the danger from that quarter. Kull’s age is unique in this sense of doom and futility, with the sense that all of civilization’s accomplishments are soon due to be undone, though from where, no one knows. KULL AND THE SERPENT KINGDOMS The serpent people are among Kull’s most persistent and dangerous adversaries, the remnants of a species long since fallen from their once-great civilizations and bent on vengeance against the primates they considered usurpers. In truth, it is they who are the true original inhabitants of the world, and they view the coming of mankind as a sudden flourishing of a noxious, invasive species, like weeds or vermin. The “Serpent Kingdoms”, their empire, rose to their height approximately 275 million years ago, and thrived for some 50 million years, long before the first things approximating humans wriggled or crawled, much less walked. In this antediluvian time, dominion over the world was contested by many other alien species. The serpent folk withstood the wars between the Elder Things, the star-spawn of Cthulhu, the flying polyps, the Mi-Go, and the time-displaced Yithians, mostly by keeping clear of their struggles. That the serpent folk were considered so inconsequential as to not matter to those great and powerful species is of no concern to them. Their real enemy would arrive later in the form of mankind. The true origin of mankind is hinted at in the pages of Al Azif, the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred’s blasphemous tome also known as the Necronomicon, and holds that humanity was but one (failed) experiment by the plantlike Old Ones, who set their creations loose across the world amidst many of their other creations to see if they would survive. The Old Ones, in turn, were destroyed by another of their creations — not mankind, but the abominable shoggoths. The other elder races withdrew into shadows and nightmare, leaving the world dominated by humans, ruled in secrecy by the serpent folk. Though Kull claimed to have put and end to their despicable lineage, he was undoubtably wrong, as they continue to menace mankind for long, long after.

CHAPTER 7 ADVENTURES We are parts of an entity, futile in ourselves. We are merely phases of electricity; electrons endlessly vibrating between the magnetic poles of birth and death. We cannot escape these trails in which our paths lie. We do not, as individual entities, really exist, we do not live. There is no life, there is no existence; there is simply vibration. What is a life but an uncompleted gesture, beginning in oblivion and ending in oblivion? . . . There is no beginning, nor will there ever be an end to the thing. — Letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, February 1928 As discussed in Chapter 6: The Thurian Age, adventures set in this period can — and should — have a different flavor from those set in the Hyborian Age. Central are themes of identity and the self, and perhaps a slightly more reserved approach to action. While in traditional Conan games, a fearsome opponent might be foreshadowed before its inevitable appearance, whether fought or fled from, in a game set in the time of Kull, a foe might be something far more abstract and may never manifest at all in the flesh. ADVENTURE SEEDS Should the gamemaster be at a quandary as to how to best create adventures that combine the weird philosophies of the Thurian Age, the following adventure seeds are provided as examples, ready to be fleshed out as needed, altered or adapted as desired, to suit the needs of a particular adventuring group. AT THE TEMPLE OF CONFUSION After decades of obscurity, the many names of the Temple of Confusion are again being whispered into the ears of kings and scholars. A ritual of stunning complexity and far-reaching scope will soon begin. Or will it reach its conclusion? The heroes may come to the ritual of their own accord, be hired by a scholar or priest, or sent by their king. As they near the Temple, they meet others on the same journey. They come for varied reasons, but all wish to reach the dark place. Heroes arrive to find dozens locked in combat across the Temple grounds. Which fight to complete the ritual, and which to prevent it is unclear. Whatever the heroes do next, they discover the battle itself is the ritual. They must fight through the press of bodies to stop the cadre of priests at the center before the ritual summons a horrific beast from between the worlds... and fight the beast itself should they fail. AN HEIR NO MORE Ordered to rescue a kidnapped heir by a King, the heroes follow leads and tracks to the city where they are held, only to discover the awful truth.

94 CHAPTER 7 The heir is surrounded not by brutal captors, but by a small army of supporters. Tired of waiting for their chance to sit on the throne themselves, the heir has decided to usurp their father in the way of Valusian rulers from time immemorial: with bloodshed. Are the heroes loyal enough to the king to end the nascent rebellion then and there? Are their loyalties to ideas, which can sway their support in one direction or the other? Is the coin offered by the heir for help gaining the throne enough to turn their swords in a new direction? THE MADNESS IN THE MIRRORS The courts of a king are labyrinthine things, more like a spider’s web than a single court where decisions are made. Endless corridors and chambers surround the throne room, where courtiers choose which cases will be heard by their ruler, and which will never reach his ear. Player characters in the court of Kull notice early that few mirrors or otherwise reflective surfaces adorn the walls of his courts. After a time, individually over days, they discover the reason. Members of the king’s retinue, when seen in the steel of a blade or the flash of gilt on a visitor’s helmet, betray their terrible secret. Serpent-men! Disguised as humans, more than half the king’s court have nigh-perfect sorcerous disguises but for one small flaw. The player characters must warn the king and stop the manipulations of this elder evil. But can they gain an audience, with the increasingly suspicious ophidians controlling all access to the ruler? THE HOUSE OF THE JEWEL The House of the Jewel is rumored to hold a gem so huge and perfect that it could buy a kingdom with riches left over to fill it with treasure. Over centuries, many have sought the House, but all who claim to have found it either lie or have returned utterly mad with despair. Those not too mad to speak tell of a great chamber with the jewel at its center, surrounded by dozens who have fallen under its spell. Simply gazing upon it leaves a person in rapt attention, standing and staring until they literally starve and rot where they stand. Some heroes may be brought to the Jewel through lust for its riches. Others may seek a missing individual last known to be seeking the Jewel. Still others may seek to end its threat once and for all. When they find it, do they also become trapped by its beauty? Or do they free its victims from their captivity? THE CORPSE AND THE COPPER CASKET With war threatening between Valusia and neighboring Kamelia, the player characters have been entrusted with safeguarding Kull’s envoy on a peace mission to the hostile nation. But he is horrifically slain en route by something swift and sly, the copper casket that was to be presented to the Kamelians torn from his bloodied fingers. With little time to retrieve the casket before bloody war breaks out, they must track the killer to its cunning master, be they a warmongering Valusian noble, an overzealous Kamelian spy, or a meddling priest bent on bloodshed for a dark god. And what secret does the casket hold? Damning scrolls trading land for peace, a king’s ransom in gems, a prized relic or the severed hand of a hostage princeling? THE PALACE OF CINNABAR DREAMS In the City of Wonders, a strange plague stalks the palace of King Kull. Since his return from adventuring in the east, courtiers have been falling victim to a deep, deathlike slumber that leaves a deep red tinge upon the victims’ flesh. The king, agitated and unable to prevent the sickness striking his attendants with impunity, seals the palace off from the outside world and commands the player characters seek and destroy whatever is responsible. It seems that some manner of being is responsible, waylaying victims even in locked bedchambers. Why are only those of Kull’s circle who accompanied him on his recent expedition affected, and is the crisis the sole cause of the king’s uncharacteristic apprehension, or is there a more startlingly sinister reason? THE ROOKERY OF UMRA-ZHUL “The Rookery of Umra-Zhul” is an adventure set in the Thurian Age of King Kull. This adventure is suitable for a group of player characters associated with Kull and the Valusian court, though it can be utilized for other groups with some modification. This adventure is set on a baron’s distinctive country estate, located in a remote province of Valusia, where things are not is as they seem. The player characters, feted as honored guests, are caught up in a sweep of events in which the inexorable mechanism of Fate enacts a grim reckoning for a past atrocity.

Adventures 95 WHAT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE Baron Kleel, the master of an estate called Umra-Zhul, is famed for his rooks. His crest is emblazoned with the blue-black feathered birds, and he breeds them for their distinctive beauty. Lacking a male heir, Baron Kleel has doted upon his eldest daughter Isarna, and intends to turn the estate over to her upon his death. This is common knowledge in the Valusian court. What is not known publicly is that several weeks ago, the baron saw a jeweled pendant belonging to his daughter in the hands of Ganelo, his rookery-keeper. The baron had Ganelo locked in the rookery, thinking that he had stolen it. Hearing of the imprisonment of her beloved, Isarna instead admitted her love for Ganelo and said she had given him the pendant so that he could buy his freedom. The baron responded poorly. No “mere bird-handler” was good enough for his own daughter. Baron Kleel had the man strangled and fed to the very rooks he kept. The birds knew no loyalty, even to their keeper, and ate the flesh they were provided. Suspecting the worse, the grieving Isarna confronted her father. In a rage, the baron smothered her with her pillow, then was wracked with madness and remorse. He forbade entry to the rookery, and Ganelo’s remains were quickly buried under feathers and filth at the bottom of the cage. In the anger of his act, the baron forgot about the pendant that had started the dreadful sequence of events. To conceal his terrible crime, the baron turned to rites of necromancy to bring his daughter back to life. By swearing the darkest of pacts, the baron was able to return Isarna from the dead, a wraith wrapped in the semblance of life. Isarna haunts his court as if alive, though sullen and withdrawn, her presence casting a pall wherever she goes. Several days ago, one of the baron’s servants, an unassuming youth named Darro, entered the rookery secretly (he had a second key) and found the bones inside. He guessed at what happened, finding among the remains an onyx pendant, one he remembered seeing around Isarna’s neck. Taking it as evidence (or perhaps to buy his own freedom), Darro fled. Shortly after, he was possessed by Ganelo’s ghost, a strange and terrible curse transforming him periodically into a monstrous hybrid of rook and man. Darro now hides at the edge of the barony, watching, hoping to find the opportunity to enact his vengeance. Now, knowing that his daughter is but a wraith, the baron must disinherit her. He wishes to maintain his estate in perpetuity under the care of his chief servant, Avaric, PLAYING AS KULL AND HIS COURT Should the gamemaster wish, this adventure is also perfectly suited to have the players taking on the roles of Kull and his immediate court: the king himself, Brule, Kelkor the Red Slayer, Ronaro, Councilor Tu, and Kuthulos. Depending on the period in which this adventure is set, Tu’s nephew Dondal may even be present, or Delcardes and her famous cat Sarames. The embassy to the estate could also consist of a mixture of Kull and original player characters, if desired, representing the king and his current favorites.